X appeals $141 million EU fine under Digital Services Act

X has filed an appeal before the General Court of the European Union challenging a €120 million ($141 million) fine imposed by the European Commission on December 5, 2025, under the Digital Services Act.

The penalty was the first non-compliance fine issued under the 2022 regulation. The Commission said the fine relates to breaches of X’s transparency obligations. It cited changes to X’s verification system, arguing that the revised use of blue checkmarks created confusion about what the symbols represent. The Commission also penalised the platform for restricting researcher access to platform data, which it said violated the DSA.

In a statement on Friday, X’s Global Affairs team said the decision was based on a flawed process.

The platform said, “This EU 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.”

X described the case as the first judicial challenge to a DSA fine and said it could set precedents for enforcement, penalty calculations and fundamental rights protections under the law. The platform said it remains committed to user safety and transparency.

The General Court will now review X’s appeal. A ruling could clarify how the Digital Services Act is enforced and how penalties are assessed under the regulation.

Along with Elon Musk criticising the penalty, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also criticised it. Rubio labeled the X penalty “an attack on all American tech platforms and the American people by foreign governments.”