According to Silicon Republic, the European Commission fined X €120 million last week for breaching the Digital Services Act (DSA), marking the first-ever penalty under the new law. The fine stems from a 2023 investigation focusing on X’s misleading “blue checkmark” verification system, its failure to provide adequate data access to researchers, and an advertising repository that lacked transparency. Just days after the fine was announced, X deactivated the EU Commission’s own ad account on the platform, with X’s head of product, Nikita Bier, accusing the Commission of using a “dormant” account to exploit a bug in the Ad Composer tool to artificially boost reach. The Commission had announced the fine via a post on X on December 5th. X now has 60 to 90 days to outline how it will fix the violations, while Ireland’s Coimisiún na Meán has also launched a separate DSA probe into X’s content moderation appeals process.
The Petty War Escalates
Okay, so here’s the thing. This isn’t just a regulatory spat anymore; it’s getting personal and incredibly petty. The EU slaps X with a massive, precedent-setting fine. X’s response? Basically, it goes, “Oh yeah? Well, your ad account is banned.” The specific accusation from Nikita Bier is that the EU used a “dormant” account and an “exploit” to post a link that made it look like a video. The EU’s response is the bureaucratic equivalent of a shrug: we just used the tools you gave us. This is a spectacularly messy public fight, and it perfectly illustrates the core tension of the DSA era. Regulators are demanding transparency and accountability as a right. Platform operators, especially under Musk, seem to view those demands as an attack on their sovereignty. So we get fines, and then we get retaliatory account deactivations. It’s not a good look for either side, but it’s certainly entertaining.
The Core Violations Are Deep
Look, the deactivated account is a spicy headline, but the actual DSA violations are the real story. The EU isn’t messing around. The “blue check” issue is huge—paying for verification fundamentally broke the system meant to denote authenticity, which the EU rightly says “deceives users.” Then there’s the data access for researchers. This is critical for understanding disinformation, public discourse, and platform manipulation. By putting up “design features and access barriers,” X isn’t just being difficult; it’s actively obstructing the independent scrutiny the DSA was designed to enable. And the ad repository? If it’s not transparent and accessible, how can anyone know who is paying to influence public opinion? These aren’t minor technicalities. They strike at the heart of platform trust and safety. The EU’s post announcing the fine was blunt, and X’s product lead’s response about the account termination and the follow-up about fixing the exploit show how far apart the two sides are.
What Happens Next?
So where does this go? X has a couple of months to present a compliance plan. But given the current antagonistic posture, does anyone expect a cooperative, good-faith effort? The EU has already suspended paid advertising on X since last October, so the ad account deactivation is more of a symbolic shot. The bigger threat is the potential for more fines and more restrictive measures. Remember, sources told the NYT earlier this year that the EU was initially preparing a fine north of $1 billion. This €120 million might just be the opening salvo. And with Ireland’s media commission now launching a separate probe, the regulatory pressure is only going to increase. The DSA has its teeth, and X has just become its first chew toy. The real question is whether this confrontation forces a change in behavior or just accelerates a messy divorce between the platform and the European market. Either way, it’s a blueprint for every other major platform watching nervously.
