US backs Elon Musk and X in bid to overturn €120m EU fine
Washington asked the EU's General Court on Thursday for permission to intervene on Elon Musk and X's side in their bid to annul the €120m fine Brussels imposed under the Digital Services Act.
The United States on Thursday asked the European Union’s General Court for permission to intervene on the side of Elon Musk and his social media platform X, which are seeking to overturn a €120 million ($136 million) fine for breaching the bloc’s online content rules.
Musk and X are challenging the European Commission’s December 2025 decision — the first fine ever issued under the Digital Services Act (DSA), the EU’s landmark digital regulation. The Commission found X had breached transparency obligations, used deceptive design in its paid blue checkmark system, and denied researchers access to public data.
The US Justice Department said it had filed an application at the EU’s second-highest court backing Musk and X’s bid to annul the decision. “The European Commission inappropriately attempted to expand its regulatory authority to reach American companies not present or operating within its jurisdiction,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate. “We will not tolerate the European Commission engaging in regulatory overreach to try and control American engines of innovation and economic growth.”
X, whose EU headquarters are in Ireland, filed its appeal in February, arguing the fine violated its due process rights, though it has also moved to comply with the decision.
The DSA, which fully took effect in 2024, requires online platforms to do more to tackle illegal and harmful content and to be more transparent about how their systems work. Violations can bring fines of up to six per cent of a company’s global annual turnover. The law has become a flashpoint between Washington and Brussels: President Donald Trump called the fine censorship, and weeks later the US State Department announced sanctions on five people, including former EU commissioner Thierry Breton.
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