Why Elon Musk’s X Has Been Slapped With $140 Million Fine in Europe? All You Need To Know

Elon Musk’s microblogging social media company X, formerly known as twitter, was fined 120 million euros which is around Rs. 12,58,11,60,000 by EU tech regulators on Friday for violating EU online content rules. 

Europe’s strict policy for big tech is to ensure that smaller rivals can compete, and consumers can have more options. However, the US administration has criticized this policy. The US administration says that these policies are only for Americans companies and censor Americans. 

The European commission said that these laws do not target any nationality, and that is merely defending its digital and democratic standards, which usually serve as the benchmark for the rest of the world. 

The fine is not for censorship: EU Tech Chief 

The EU sanction against X followed a two year long investigation under the EU Digital Service Act (DSA), which requires online platforms to do more to tackle illegal and harmful content. 

The European Union’s investigation of ByteDance’s social media app TikTok led to charges in May that the company had breached a DSA requirement to publish an advertisement repository allowing researchers and users to detect scam advertisements. 

The EU’s tech chief Henna Virkkunen said X’s modest fine was proportionate and was calculated based on the violation. 

Henna Virkkunen stated to the media that ““We are not here to impose the highest fines. We are here to make sure that our digital legislation is enforced, and if you comply with our rules, you don’t get the fine. And it’s as simple as that,” she further stated that “I think it’s very important to underline that DSA is having nothing to do with censorship” 

EU should not attack American companies: Vance 

Meta and TikTok were charged with breaching DSA transparency obligations in October while Chinese online marketplace Temu was accused of violating rules to prevent the sale of illegal product.  

X did not response to the emailed request for comment instantly. As per the rules the company must come up with measures with the DSA within 60 to 90 working days. 

Ahead of EU decision, US vice president JD Vance said on X “”Rumors swirling that the EU commission will fine X hundreds of millions of dollars for not engaging in censorship. The EU should be supporting free speech not attacking American companies over garbage.”