Overview
- On Dec. 5, the European Commission fined X €120 million for misleading use of blue-check badges under the Digital Services Act.
- The regulator says paid badges led users to believe accounts were verified, noting the DSA forbids falsely indicating verification.
- Elon Musk reacted on X by calling for the European Union to be abolished and attacked the bloc’s tech regulation.
- U.S. political allies including J.D. Vance, Marco Rubio and President Donald Trump condemned the decision as an attack or censorship.
- EU officials dismissed Musk’s remarks as “completely mad” and confirmed a broader probe into content moderation and information manipulation remains open and could trigger tougher action.