US Government Joins Elon Musk’s Legal Challenge Against EU’s €120m X Fine

The US government is seeking to join Elon Musk and X in challenging the European Union’s €120m (£105m) fine over the platform’s blue checkmark system.

Why the EU fined X over blue verification badges

In December 2025, the European Commission said X “deceives users” by allowing people to pay for a blue verified checkmark without “meaningfully” verifying the account owner.

EU regulators also accused X of failing to provide sufficient transparency about advertising and denying researchers access to publicly available data.

“Company X is responsible for violating user rights and avoiding responsibility,” Hena Virkkunen, the regulator’s executive vice-president for technology sovereignty, said when the fine was issued.

“Deceiving users with blue checkmarks, hiding information in advertisements, and locking out researchers have no place online in the EU,” she added.

US Justice Department challenges EU jurisdiction

Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate said the European Commission had “improperly sought to expand” its coverage to US companies outside its jurisdiction.

The US Department of Justice said it had filed a request to intervene in the case brought by X and Elon Musk seeking to annul the penalty.

The EU’s General Court upheld Mr Musk’s and X’s attempt to dismiss the case.

The Justice Department argued that, under the legal provisions of the Statute of the Court of Justice of the European Union, states can intervene in disputes before the court if they are “able to benefit the court as to the outcome of the proceedings”.

It said the United States has a “clear interest” in ensuring that any European Commission decision is applied consistently with “the common understanding of territorial jurisdiction in international law”.

The department also called for US-based digital services that make “significant contributions” to the US economy not to be disadvantaged.

European Commission says it will defend X fine

At a Friday press conference, European Commission spokesman Thomas Renier said the commission was “ready to defend” its position in court.

He said the commission had “robust cases” concerning alleged breaches of the Digital Services Act.

“Of course they are holding hearings and rulings, but what we can say from our side is that they actually proceeded with a very solid case that resulted in a fine of 120 million euros against X in December last year,” Mr Renier said.

“And, of course, the Commission is prepared to defend its position in court. And follow up.”

US officials accuse EU of targeting American technology companies

Elon Musk, who has spent millions of dollars supporting the election of Donald Trump and other Republicans, has previously argued that EU technology regulations are “hindering progress” for companies.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Federal Communications Commission accused EU regulators of attacking and censoring US companies.

“The European Commission’s fine is not just an attack on X, it’s an attack by a foreign government on the entire American technology platform and the American people,” Rubio wrote in a post on X.

“The days of censoring Americans online are over.”

Musk reposted Rubio’s remarks and added: “Absolutely.”

The European Commission denied targeting specific nationalities. It said it was protecting digital and democratic standards and maintaining its role as a global benchmark.

Further EU investigations into X

The action marked the European Commission’s first official non-compliance decision under the Digital Services Act, one of two mandatory rulebooks governing online platforms in the EU.

The EU is conducting several other investigations into X, including one involving concerns that its integrated AI assistant, Grok, was used to create sexualized images of real people.