The US government is intervening in the legal battle between Elon Musk and the European Union, demanding that a DSA fine against X be dismissed.
The United States comes to the defense of Elon Musk. The Office of Public Affairs, which falls under the Department of Justice, is openly intervening in a lawsuit between X and the European Commission. It concerns a fine imposed on X at the end of 2025 under the DSA legislation, which X owner Musk has appealed.
The US government believes that the fine is unjustified. “The European Commission has inappropriately attempted to extend its regulatory authority to American companies that are not present within its jurisdiction,” the Department’s statement reads.
In short, Washington claims that the European Union has no jurisdiction over companies headquartered in the United States. Furthermore, the amount of the fine is said to be disproportionately high and calculated based on the combined turnover of X and SpaceX, rather than solely on the revenue X generates as a platform in Europe.
Triple infringement
In December 2025, the European Commission imposed a fine of 120 million on the social media platform X. The Commission had identified three infringements of the DSA legislation at X. Firstly, the ‘blue checkmark’ that users can have added to their accounts for a fee was deemed unlawful by the Commission. Additionally, X was allegedly insufficiently transparent about advertisements and failed to grant researchers access to public data.
Musk never intended to leave it at that. His initial reaction was rather juvenile, temporarily blocking the Commission’s account. An appeal procedure against the fine is currently underway, in which the US government intends to intervene.
That does not change the fact that there are several other reasons to sanction X. The chatbot Grok regularly crosses the line with racist remarks and sexually explicit deepfakes. The DSA holds social media platform owners responsible for protecting users from harmful content, and X can certainly be accused of failing to uphold that responsibility.
Troubled waters
The US government taking up the gauntlet for X further strains the already murky relationship with the European Union. The Trump administration makes no secret of its opinion on European legislation. While it usually stops at shouting, ranting, and threatening import tariffs, this would be the first time Washington actively intervenes in a lawsuit between the EU and an American company.
Political interests are naturally at play here as well. Musk is once again proving to be a loyal sponsor of the Republican campaign in the run-up to the midterm elections in November.