Today, Friday, the European Union imposed a fine of 120 million euros (nearly 140 million dollars) on the social media network X, owned by Elon Musk, causing a new conflict with the government of US President Donald Trump.
The penalty is consistent with violations reported in July 2024
The head of US diplomacy, Marco Rubio, quickly came out to question this measure. On Musk’s private network, the official asserted that this was “an attack against the American people by foreign governments.”
Authoritarians don’t like this
The practice of professional and critical journalism is an essential pillar of democracy. This is why it bothers those who believe they are the bearers of the truth.
In his statements, Rubio denounced that “the $140 million fine imposed by the European Commission is not only an attack on X, but an attack against all American technology platforms and the American people by foreign governments.”
He added: “We are not here to impose the highest fines. We are here to ensure compliance with our digital legislation.” “If you follow our rules, we won’t fine you: it’s that simple,” Virkkonen emphasized.
This is the first penalty issued by the European Commission under the Digital Services Regulation (DSA), a law approved two years ago to combat illegal content on the Internet.
The political aspect. Before Musk bought the platform in 2022, the network, then called Twitter, awarded the blue mark (or “blue tick”) to users after an identity verification process, with the aim of preventing fraud. But after acquiring it for $44 billion and renaming it “X,” Elon Musk reserved those designations for paid subscribers, which, according to Brussels, could mislead users.
On the other hand, the European Union has expanded its investigation into the X case, suspecting that it is not respecting its obligations regarding illegal content and disinformation. However, he has not yet completed his investigation in this regard.
The issue took on a political dimension due to the strong closeness between Musk and US President Donald Trump. The two were very close until their fight last June. In recent weeks, they have taken a new approach, but not at the previous level.
At the end of November, a group of American officials traveled to Brussels and asked the European Union to ease these laws in exchange for reducing US tariffs on European steel. This is a proposal rejected by the Europeans, who reaffirmed the bloc’s sovereign right to pass its own laws.