EU should be abolished after X fined $140 million

Elon Musk has called for the dissolution of the European Union after the bloc fined social media company

The European Commission struck X with the decision on Friday, following a two-year investigation into the company under the Digital Services Act (DSA), adopted in 2022 to regulate online platforms. At the time, Musk wrote “Bulls—” in his response on X to a post by the Commission.

He stepped up his criticism of the bloc on Saturday. “The EU should be dissolved and sovereignty returned to individual countries so governments can better represent their people,” he said in a post on X.

Musk’s comments come as senior US government officials also intensify their opposition to the decision.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the fine “an attack by foreign governments on all American technology platforms and the American people” in a post on X on Friday.

“Today’s excessive fine of €120 million is the result of excessive EU regulation targeting American innovation,” US Ambassador to the EU Andrew Puzder said on X on Saturday.

“The Trump Administration has been clear: we oppose censorship and will oppose burdensome regulations targeting US companies abroad. We expect the EU to trade fairly, openly, and reciprocally – and nothing less.”

Last week, the Commission said the violations included “the deceptive design of the ‘blue check mark’, the lack of transparency of the ad repository, and the failure to provide access to public data for researchers.”

“With DSA’s initial non-compliance decision, we hold X accountable for undermining users’ rights and evading accountability,” Henna Virkkunen, vice president for technology sovereignty, security and democracy, said at the time.

X now has 60 days to notify the Commission of its plans to address issues with “deceptive” blue check marks. It has 90 days to submit a plan to fix the problems with the ad repository and provide access to public data for researchers.

“Failure to comply with the non-compliance decision may lead to periodic penalty payments,” the commission said in a statement. he said.

X.ai, the company that owns X, and the Commission were approached for comment. Ah