This move comes at a time when disputes with the United States are expected to intensify regarding European digital rules, especially after criticism from US Vice President JD Vance, who saw the fine as a “penalty for not practicing censorship.”
Although the amount of the fine is considered moderate compared to previous penalties imposed by the European Union on technology companies, Washington has repeatedly pressured Brussels during trade talks to ease its technical legislation.
The Commission concluded that the platform had violated transparency obligations imposed on it as a very large online platform under the Digital Services Act. It explained that the design of the blue verification mark on “X” has become misleading after it turned from a tool to verify user identity into a paid service.
The Commission also indicated that the advertising library on “X” lacks transparency, and that the platform does not allow researchers access to public data as stipulated by law.
It should be noted that this fine represents the end of only one part of the investigation that the European Union began about two years ago, while other parts related to combating illegal content and information manipulation are still under study.
