In a landmark step for digital regulation, the European Commission has issued its first major enforcement decision under the Digital Services Act (DSA), imposing a €120 million fine on social media platform X, formerly Twitter. Announced in early December 2025, the decision signals that the European Union’s ambitious regulatory framework for online platforms is actively shaping how Big Tech operates in the digital sphere.
The fine explained
Under the DSA, very large online platforms (VLOPs) are subject to stringent obligations concerning, inter alia, transparency, advertising disclosure, and access to data. X, which qualifies as a VLOP due to its massive user base, was found to have breached several of these requirements.
Specifically, according to the Commission, X infringed transparency obligations in three key areas:
- Deceptive design of the “blue checkmark”: the verification badge, previously linked to authentic public figures or trusted sources, was repackaged without sufficient transparency, potentially misleading users as to the credibility of accounts. Any user may now obtain “verified” status by paying a fee, without prior verification. This practice was found to contravene Art. 25 DSA, which prohibits platforms from designing or operating online interfaces “in a way that deceives or manipulates the recipients of their service or in a way that otherwise materially distorts or impairs the ability of the recipients of their service to make free and informed decisions”.
- Lack of transparency in advertising: X failed to provide clear and accessible information regarding the identity of advertisers, the targeting criteria used, and the manner in which advertisements were displayed to users. Yet Art. 39 DSA requires platforms to maintain a public advertising repository detailing this information.
- Insufficient access to data for vetted researchers: researchers were not granted adequate access to platform data needed to analyse systemic risks, as required under Art. 40 DSA.
Taken together, these shortcomings, the Commission argued, undermine users’ ability to scrutinise how content and advertising operate on platforms with real societal impact, including in contexts such as political campaigning and public debate.
DSA enforcement takes shape
Since becoming applicable in February 2024, the DSA has been eyed by regulators, civil society and tech companies as a transformative framework for online accountability. It imposes robust obligations directly enforceable across the Union, rather than relying on voluntary compliance or fragmented national rules.
The €120 million fine marks the first formal non-compliance decision under this regime, an unmistakable signal that the Commission is willing to wield its powers against companies that fall short. While the amount seems significant, it is worth noting that the DSA allows fines of up to 6% of global annual revenue, suggesting tougher penalties could come in future cases.
More broadly, this enforcement moment sets a precedent for how rules on transparency, accountability, and user protection will be applied in practice and tests the Commission’s capacity to regulate platforms that shape public debate, advertising flows, and even election narratives.
Next steps: compliance deadlines and broader impacts
Following the decision, X has been given specific deadlines to correct its practices: the platform has 60 working days to address the deceptive use of blue checkmarks and 90 working days to submit an action plan concerning the remaining infringements.
Should X fail to comply, the Commission may impose additional periodic penalties: a mechanism that ensures that the decision is not a one-off gesture, but part of ongoing supervision.
X’s reaction to the fine has been both forceful and highly public: Elon Musk denounced the decision on the platform as regulatory overreach, while senior X executives temporarily deactivated the Commission’s advertising account in protest, claiming misuse of platform tools to promote the announcement. Critics aligned with X have portrayed the DSA enforcement as a threat to innovation and freedom of expression, despite EU officials emphasising that the case concerns transparency and deceptive design, rather than content censorship.
A turning point in digital rulemaking
The X fine under the DSA represents a milestone in EU digital regulation. By holding one of the most influential social platforms accountable for its transparency and data practices, the EU has shown that it can enforce digital rules meaningfully and at scale. With this decision, the DSA has transitioned from legislation into actionable governance, reshaping how digital spaces are supervised within the EU legal order.
