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The European Union is preparing unprecedented penalties against Elon Musk’s platform X for violating the Digital Services Act. According to the New York Times, citing four anonymous sources, the fine could exceed a billion dollars.
The sanctions include not only financial penalties, but also requirements to make changes to the operation of the platform. This is the first time that a new EU law requiring companies to closely monitor the content on their services has been applied with such severity.
The Digital Services Act is designed to combat illegal content and disinformation by ensuring transparency in the operation of large social networks. According to European regulators, X has systematically violated these rules by refusing to cooperate with researchers and ensure transparency with advertisers.
The situation is complicated by the fact that Elon Musk is one of Donald Trump’s closest advisers. It is not yet known whether sanctions against X could trigger a new round of transatlantic tensions, especially amid recent trade disputes between the US and the EU.
Company X has not yet commented on the possible sanctions, but after the New York Times article appeared, it said that such actions by the EU were “an unprecedented act of political censorship and an attack on free speech”.
