X First Victim Of DMA, Fined IDR 2.1 Trillion By The European Union For Violating Content Rules

Henna Vikkunen, Head of Technology Division of the European Commission (photo: x @HennaVirkkunen)

JAKARTA Elon Musk's social media platform X was fined 120 million euros (approximately IDR 2.3 trillion) by EU technology regulators on Friday, December 5 for violating online content rules. This is the first sanction imposed on the basis of the Digital Services Act (DSA), a major EU regulation that regulates digital platforms.

X did not respond to requests for comment via email, but Elon Musk wrote 'Bullshit' under the European Commission's upload of the fine. He also shared a number of posts criticizing the decision and asserted that free speech was the foundation of democracy.

Unlike X, TikTok manages to avoid sanctions after meeting transparency demands related to its advertising library. DSA regulations require platforms to provide ad repositories so that researchers and users can detect fraudulent advertisements.

The administration of US President Donald Trump, previously criticized EU measures, accusing Europe of targeting American technology companies and censoring US citizens. But the European Commission stressed that their law does not target certain nationalities, but protects digital standards and democracy.

Henna Vikkunen, Head of Technology of the European Commission, said that the fine against X was proportional, calculated based on the nature of the violation, the scale of its impact on EU users, and the length of the violation took place.

"We don't aim to impose the biggest fine. If you comply with our rules, you won't be fined. That's as simple as that," he said. He asserted that DSA has nothing to do with sensors.

A number of top US officials have criticized the EU's decision. Foreign Minister Marco Rubio called the fine an attack on all American technology platforms and US citizens.

FCC chairman Brendan Carr said the EU punished X just because the company was too successful as a US company.

Ahead of the EU's decision, US Vice President JD Vance also criticized rumors of a large fine against X, calling it an attempt to force the company to censor.

EU regulators say X violated some of the main liabilities in DSA, including:

A misleading design related to the blue checkmark feature

Lack of transparency of advertising repositories

Failure to provide access to public data to researchers

Investigations into the spread of illegal content, information manipulation on platform X, as well as separate investigations into TikTok designs and algorithms are still ongoing.

X is given 60 to 90 working days to prepare compliance measures, depending on the issues discussed. On the other hand, TikTok calls for all platforms to be treated equally in law enforcement.

Under DSA, companies can be fined up to 6% of their annual global revenue.