US backs Elon Musk’s bid to overturn €120m EU fine against X

The US government intends to join Elon Musk's legal challenge to overturn a €120 million EU fine imposed on X for its blue tick badges, which the platform allegedly deceives users by allowing paid verification without proper validation. In December 2025, the European Commission claimed X's blue tick badges were not meaningfully verifying account owners.

However, US Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate argued that the Commission had improperly sought to extend its jurisdiction to American companies beyond its control. The DOJ filed an application with the EU's General Court, asserting that US interests are at stake in ensuring consistent application of territorial jurisdiction and safeguarding US-headquartered digital services that significantly contribute to the American economy.

European Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier stated that the Commission is prepared to defend its decision, citing a solid case based on alleged breaches of the Digital Services Act. EU regulators accused X of failing to provide transparency around its adverts and denying researchers access to public data. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Federal Communications Commission criticized the EU regulator for targeting and censoring US firms.

The Commission's move marked its first official non-compliance decision under the Digital Services Act, with additional investigations into X's AI assistant Grok under suspicion of creating sexualized images of real individuals.