US blasts EU fine on social media company X as 'attack' on American tech

WASHINGTON

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday criticized the European Commission for a €120 million (nearly $140 million) fine against US social media company X, calling it an "attack" on American tech companies and users.

"The European Commission’s $140 million fine isn’t just an attack on @X, it’s an attack on all American tech platforms and the American people by foreign governments.

"The days of censoring Americans online are over," Rubio said on X.

His remarks came after the European Commission issued the fine against the company, which billionaire Elon Musk acquired in 2022, for multiple breaches of the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), marking the first non-compliance decision under the new regulation.

According to the commission, X misled users through the “deceptive design” of its blue checkmark feature, failed to meet transparency requirements for its advertising repository, and blocked researchers from accessing public data.

The commission also found that X’s blue checkmark system — which allows users to pay for “verified” status — misrepresents the nature of verification.