Elon Musk’s X Appeals €120 Million EU Fine Under Digital Services Act

X (formerly Twitter) is fighting the European Union’s decision to impose a €120 million fine on the platform for alleged misconduct under the Digital Services Act (DSA).

In December last year, the European Commission issued a press release boasting it had imposed a €120 million fine on X, finding the platform in breach of key transparency and user-protection rules under the Digital Services Act – the first formal penalty under the DSA since the regulation’s 2022 enactment.

“The breaches include the deceptive design of its ‘blue checkmark', the lack of transparency of its advertising repository, and the failure to provide access to public data for researchers,” the commission argued.

X files appeal

X, privately owned by Elon Musk, is now fighting back, according to a post by the platform’s Global Government Affairs team.

“X filed an appeal at the General Court of the European Union challenging the €120 million fine imposed by the European Commission on 5 December 2025, the first non-compliance fine under the Digital Services Act (DSA),” reads an entry posted  Friday on X.

X said the EU’s decision “resulted from an incomplete and superficial investigation, grave procedural errors, a tortured interpretation of the obligations under the DSA, and systematic breaches of rights of defence and basic due process requirements suggesting prosecutorial bias.”

“This landmark case is the first judicial challenge to a DSA fine and could set important precedents for enforcement, penalty calculations, and fundamental rights protections under the 2022 regulation,” the team adds.

“X remains committed to user safety and transparency while defending our users' access to the only global town square,” the post concludes.

X under fire in Europe

The EC’s penalty comes amidst a broader regulatory movement against X in Europe.

Last month, the European Commission launched a new investigation into X, examining whether the platform’s deployment of its AI assistant Grok complies with the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA). Key concerns include the dissemination of illegal content – including manipulated explicit images – as well as content linked to gender-based violence and broader negative impacts on users’ physical and mental well-being.

Earlier this month, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) – the UK data protection authority – opened a formal investigation into X over image manipulation and the use of personal data in connection with the AI system Grok. The probe follows widespread reports that the AI chatbot was used to generate harmful and explicit imagery.

Ireland has also opened a data protection investigation into X over similar accusations.

Consumers are concerned about AI-created materials

As we reported earlier this month, Europe’s regulatory push underscores a growing focus on AI accountability – especially around generative models that can manipulate or create fabricated representations of real people.

According to the Bitdefender 2025 Consumer Cybersecurity Survey, consumers are increasingly aware of the risks of AI-generated content, with more than a third of respondents naming the creation of deepfakes as one of their biggest concerns.

And in the context of mounting scrutiny of X, participants in our survey expressed skepticism regarding X’s conduit on privacy and security, with 52% naming it a “least trusted” player on the Big Tech scene.

According to the free-speech advocates at ADF international, this landmark case is about whether the EU can police the global digital public square, calling it “key to stopping EU censorship.”

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