The US government has moved to intervene in Elon Musk’s legal dispute with European regulators over a substantial fine levied against the social media platform X. In December 2025, the European Commission issued the €120m penalty, citing concerns that X deceives users by selling blue verified check marks without properly verifying account ownership.
US Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate characterized the Commission’s action as an inappropriate overreach of authority toward American companies beyond its regulatory scope. The Department of Justice submitted an application to the EU’s General Court arguing that the US holds a legitimate interest in the case’s outcome. The DOJ contended that any ruling should align with established principles of territorial jurisdiction in international law and protect American digital service companies that contribute substantially to the US economy.
The European Commission’s fine addressed multiple alleged violations beyond the blue tick issue. Regulators accused X of providing insufficient transparency regarding advertisements and restricting researcher access to public data. Henna Virkkunen, the Commission’s executive vice-president for technology sovereignty, stated the penalty was intended to hold X accountable for undermining user rights and evading responsibility.
The dispute reflects broader tensions between US and EU technology governance. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Federal Communications Commission criticized the Commission’s enforcement, characterizing it as an attack on American technology platforms and free expression. Rubio asserted that efforts to censor Americans online must cease. The European Commission rejected accusations of targeting specific nationalities, asserting it enforces digital and democratic standards consistently.
The fine represented the Commission’s first official non-compliance decision under the Digital Services Act, a regulatory framework governing online platforms in the EU. European authorities continue investigating X on additional matters, including potential misuse of its integrated artificial intelligence assistant Grok related to creating non-consensual synthetic imagery.
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