EU fines X €120 million for violating Digital Services Act

Business Dec 12, 2025

X (formerly Twitter) just got hit with a €120 million fine from the European Commission—the first big penalty under the new Digital Services Act.
The main issue? The EU says X isn't being transparent enough about its blue badge system, how ad records are kept and made available, and how researchers can access platform data.

What's wrong with the blue badge and ads?

The EU called out X for letting anyone buy a blue badge without real identity checks, which makes it hard to know if accounts are legit.
They also flagged that X's ad library hides who's behind ads and delays info, while researchers struggle to get data needed to study the platform's risks.
X now has 60 days to sort things out.