The European Commission effectively pricked the ego of tech pioneer Elon Musk today by denying his claim that it issued him with a personal fine for violating the Digital Services Act last week.
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Fine Was for X Only
The Commission’s digital spokesperson Thomas Regnier said today that the €120 million ($140 million) fine was imposed on Musk’s social media company X and not him as an individual.
That came after Musk had claimed in a post on X that he was “personally” being fined by the bloc. “The ‘EU’ imposed this crazy fine not just on X, but also on me personally, which is even more insane!” he wrote. He also called on the EU to be abolished.
Regnier said it does not fine individuals under the bloc’s digital rules. “X will have to pay that fine. The €120 million will have to be paid. We will make sure that we get this money,” he said.
He added that X still has the opportunity to challenge the decision in court. “There are procedural steps to take into account, and any decision taken by the Commission can be challenged in front of the Court of Justice of the European Union,” he said.
X Fights Back
Regnier added that the fine against X was calculated based on the nature of the platform’s DSA breaches, with the Commission also considering their duration, recurrence and gravity in determining the penalty.
He also clarified that the DSA requires the Commission to identify the corporate structure of an entity it intends to fine.
“In charge of X is, of course, the Irish subsidiary X IUC [Internet Unlimited Company],” Regnier noted, adding: “We have also identified, as part of this [enforcement procedure], X Holdings Corp, XAI… and Mr. Elon Musk.”
In the ruling last week, the Commission, after a two-year investigation, said X had breached its transparency obligations under the act. The breaches include the deceptive design of its ‘blue checkmark’, the lack of transparency of its advertising repository, and the failure to provide access to public data for researchers.
In retaliation for the fine, the BBC reported today that X has blocked the European Commission from making adverts on its platform. Nikita Bier, who has a senior role at the social media site, accused the EU of trying to “take advantage” of “an exploit” in its advertising system to promote its post about last week’s fine.
“It seems you believe that the rules should not apply to your account,” he said. “Your ad account has been terminated.”
A European Commission spokesperson told the BBC that it “always uses all social media platforms in good faith”.
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