X Suspends European Commission Ad Account Following Landmark Digital Services Act Fine

The social media platform X, under the ownership of Elon Musk, has moved to suspend the advertising account belonging to the European Commission (EC). This action comes directly in retaliation to Brussels imposing a substantial 120 million euro penalty on X for alleged non-compliance with the Digital Services Act (DSA).

This significant development unfolded around December 7th or 8th, 2025, shortly after the European Commission officially announced the fine on December 4th or 5th, 2025. This penalty marked the inaugural enforcement action under the DSA framework. Regulators pinpointed three primary areas where X had fallen short: the deceptive design surrounding the paid 'blue checkmark' verification system, which lacked adequate identity verification processes; insufficient transparency within X's advertising repository; and the platform's refusal to grant authorized researchers appropriate access to publicly available data. The Commission established clear deadlines for compliance: 60 working days to rectify the issues related to the 'blue checks' and 90 working days to address the concerns regarding ad transparency and data access.

In direct response to the financial penalty, X's Head of Product, Nikita Bier, announced the deactivation of the EC's advertising account on Sunday, December 7th, 2025. Bier leveled a counter-accusation, asserting that the Commission had exploited a vulnerability within the Ad Composer tool by using a 'dormant advertising account' to post a message about the fine. This post allegedly disguised a link within a video to artificially inflate its reach. The European Commission vehemently denied any claims of misuse, maintaining that its use of advertising tools was entirely above board. Importantly, the European Commission's main account on X remained operational despite the advertising account suspension.

The dispute quickly escalated beyond mere regulatory compliance, taking on a distinct geopolitical dimension. X's owner, Elon Musk, publicly called for the dissolution of the European Union, labeling it a 'tyranny.' This stance garnered support from certain American political figures. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio characterized the fine as an 'attack on the American people,' while US Vice President J.D. Vance criticized Brussels for 'attacking American companies over nonsense.' Conversely, Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski described Musk's comments as 'reckless and dangerous.'

What began as a technical dispute over transparency has morphed into a direct confrontation between different jurisdictions and political ideologies. This incident occurred more than two years after Elon Musk acquired the platform in October 2022, and a year after the initial investigation commenced in December 2023. It underscores Brussels' firm commitment to asserting digital sovereignty. Executive Vice-President of the Commission, Henna Virkkunen, had previously emphasized that the DSA is fundamentally unrelated to censorship, directly countering arguments put forth by some American politicians.