The European Commission’s recent decision to levy a massive EU fine (€120 million) on the X social network, owned by Elon Musk, has provoked an open transatlantic conflict. In response, the platform’s owner called for the “abolition of the EU”, claiming that Brussels is “slowly choking Europe to death with bureaucracy.”
The Reason for the Fine: Transparency, Not Censorship?
The European Commission maintains that the EU fine is not related to content moderation or censorship, but rather imposed due to specific violations of transparency and consumer protection rules:
☛ Regarding blue checkmarks: The X social network misleads users with blue verification checkmarks, which can now be purchased instead of earned through identity confirmation, violating “deceptive design” rules.
☛ Regarding the opaque advertising system: The platform does not provide researchers with full data and utilizes an opaque advertising system, hindering the identification of fraud and disinformation.
The American Reaction: “An Attack on All American Tech”
Elon Musk’s call for the EU’s abolition (“#AbolishTheEU”) was met with support from influential American politicians who interpreted the fine as an attack on free speech and U.S. business interests.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was among the critics. He sharply condemned Brussels’ actions, stating that the fine goes beyond regulating a single company: “The European Commission’s €120 million EU fine is not just an attack on X; it is an attack on all American technology platforms and the American people by foreign governments. The days of censoring Americans online are over”.
Thus, the conflict over the fine has escalated from a legal dispute into a broad political confrontation, with American officials openly siding with Elon Musk.
Durov’s Voice: Concerns Over Free Speech
Telegram founder Pavel Durov also supported Musk’s stance. He claimed that the European Union is introducing unworkable requirements designed to “punish technology companies that refuse to silently censor free speech.”
NEWSROOM IN notes that this is not the first attempt by Brussels to curb American technology giants. The EU has previously imposed multi-million-euro fines on companies such as Google, Amazon, and Meta (owner of Facebook), primarily for breaches of antitrust law and privacy regulations (GDPR).
The current incident highlights the growing tension between the European Union’s desire to regulate the digital space to protect its citizens and the conviction held by American tech giants that these rules are burdensome, bureaucratic, and violate free market principles.
