The U.S. government has formally asked to intervene in a legal challenge brought by Elon Musk and his social media platform X against a €120 million ($136.5 million) fine imposed by the European Commission. The U.S. Department of Justice filed its application with the General Court of the Court of Justice of the European Union on Sept. 24, supporting efforts by X and Musk to annul the European Commission’s decision.
The fine was imposed in December 2025 under the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA), following an investigation into X’s compliance with the bloc’s digital transparency requirements. The European Commission said the violations involved the platform’s blue verification badge, transparency of its advertising repository and access to public data for researchers. The decision was the Commission’s first non-compliance decision under the DSA.
In its filing, the U.S. Justice Department argued that the European Commission had improperly extended its regulatory reach to American companies and raised concerns about how the EU determines responsibility for digital services under the DSA. The department said the case could have broader implications for large online platforms whose parent companies are based in the United States.
The dispute comes amid broader tensions between Washington and Brussels over European technology regulation. The administration of President Donald Trump has criticized aspects of the EU’s approach to regulating major technology companies, while the European Commission has maintained that its digital rules apply without regard to nationality and are intended to protect transparency, competition and users within the bloc.
Since Musk acquired Twitter, now known as X, in 2022, the platform has faced criticism from rights organizations and other observers over issues including hate speech, misinformation and sexually explicit content. Meanwhile, the European Commission said in July 2026 that it had accepted X’s action plan to improve its advertising repository and provide eligible researchers with greater access to public data, following the December 2025 DSA decision.
