Report: EU to Announce Digital Services Act Penalties Against X This Summer

The European Union is reportedly preparing penalties against X that include a fine and demands for changes to the platform.

The penalties are expected to be announced this summer and would be the first issued under the EU’s Digital Services Act, which requires companies to police their platforms and provide transparency about how their services work, the New York Times reported Thursday (April 3), citing unnamed sources.

One source said the fine could be more than $1 billion, though a European Commission spokesman said the commission has not yet considered the amount of any fine, according to the report.

Asked about the reported penalties by the New York Times, the European Commission spokesman declined to comment specifically on the investigation of X.

“We have always enforced and will continue to enforce our laws fairly and without discrimination toward all companies operating in the EU, in compliance with global rules,” the spokesman said, per the report.

The penalties will result from the EU’s investigation into X that began in 2023 and that saw regulators issue a preliminary ruling in 2024, saying that the social media platform had violated the law, the report said.

The regulators found that X violated the law by refusing to provide data that would help researchers measure how disinformation and harmful material spread on the service, failing to provide adequate transparency about advertisers and failing to verify the authenticity of users who pay to have a “verified” account, per the report.

The account of X’s Global Government Affairs team said in a Thursday post on X that the company will defend its business.

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 the EU’s Digital Services Act, and we will…

— Global Government Affairs (@GlobalAffairs) April 4, 2025

“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,” the post said. “X has gone above and beyond to comply with the 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.”

X CEO Linda Yaccarino reposted that post Thursday, adding that the reported enforcement actions would be “an egregious example of regulatory overreach.”

“X continues to fight the attempts to stifle free speech taking place around the world, whether on our platform or off,” Yaccarino said in her post. “We’re committed to protect this fundamental right for our users.”

This would be an egregious example of regulatory overreach. X continues to fight the attempts to stifle free speech taking place around the world, whether on our platform or off. We’re committed to protect this fundamental right for our users. https://t.co/2sG8Folnbu

— Linda Yaccarino (@lindayaX) April 4, 2025

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