Elon Musk’s X could reportedly face over $1 billion in fines from the European Union

The European Union regulators are preparing to fine Elon Musk's social media platform X $1 billion for breaking disinformation laws, as per an insider's report to The New York Times. The report also mentions that the regulators will demand changes to the platform's features, which will likely be officially announced this summer.

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This action would reportedly mark the first enforcement under the EU's new Digital Services Act and could heighten tensions between the EU and the United States, with Musk being one of the key advisors and closest allies to U.S President Donald Trump.

Considering the EU's current tensions with Trump over trade policies, tariffs, and the Ukraine war, the size of the fine is still being considered. However, as per one source in the report, the fine has the possibility of exceeding $1 billion.

The European Union's efforts to curb misinformation isn't a new piece of information since X has been under investigation since December 2023 for potential violations of the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA).

The platform has allegedly been manipulating its systems to push forward far-right content, giving more visibility to certain political figures.

Is there a possibility for a settlement between Elon Musk's X and the European Union?

Yes, as per the New York Times report, EU and X could reach a settlement if X agrees to make changes on their platform as suggested by the regulators. However, X's global government affairs account thinks otherwise and criticized European regulators in an X post on April 3, noting,

"If the reports that the European Commission is considering enforcement actions against X are accurate, it represents an unprecedented act of political censorship and an attack on free speech. X has gone above and beyond to comply with EU's Digital Services Act, and we will use every option at our disposal to defend our business, keep our users safe, and protect freedom of speech in Europe."

On July 24, 2024, Musk noted that the European Commission offered the social media giant a "secret deal", which was if X "quietly censored speech without telling anyone" they would not fine X. Elon Musk noted that while other platforms "accepted that deal" X did not.

Earlier European Union had allegedly warned X of calculating fines against the platform by calculating revenue generated by Elon Musk's other businesses, including Space Exploration Technologies Corp and Neuralink Corp. As per the DSA act, the EU can fine online platforms with fines of as much as 6% of their yearly global revenue.

Unlike Google, Meta, and other platforms, X is a private company under Elon Musk's sole control, which allows the EU to consider revenue from his other companies.

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