‘EU should be abolished’: Musk blasts Europe’s Digital Services Act after record €120 million fine on X

Elon Musk escalated his fight with European regulators on Saturday, declaring that the European Union “should be abolished” just a day after Brussels fined his social media platform X €120 million ($140 million). The penalty marks one of the most aggressive actions yet under the EU’s sweeping Digital Services Act (DSA), which demands stricter transparency, content moderation, and user-verification standards from tech giants.

The latest enforcement move alleges that X’s paid verification system — allowing users to purchase blue check marks — misleads the public because the company is not “meaningfully verifying” the identity of account holders. The European Commission said the resulting confusion exposes users to impersonation, scams, and manipulation by malicious actors. The regulations, implemented in August 2023, seek to restrict opaque algorithms and deceptive design practices across major digital platforms.

Musk fired back swiftly on X (formally twitter), insisting that only national governments should decide how to regulate online speech. “The EU should be abolished and sovereignty returned to individual countries, so that governments can better represent their people,” he wrote. The billionaire has repeatedly argued that Brussels’ rules amount to political control disguised as safety and transparency.

Transatlantic tensions flare

The fine has sparked a rare and unusually forceful backlash from senior US officials, turning what began as a regulatory clash into a geopolitical flashpoint.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused the EU of attacking American companies under the guise of content enforcement. “The European Commission's fine isn't just an attack on X, it's an attack on all American tech platforms and the American people by foreign governments,” he posted, adding that “the days of censoring Americans online are over.” Musk reposted the message, adding a terse “absolutely.”

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chair Brendan Carr echoed Rubio’s stance, claiming the EU was targeting X simply because it is “a successful US tech company.” In his criticism, he said Europe was effectively “taxing Americans to subsidise a continent held back by Europe's own suffocating regulations.”

A similar warning came earlier from US Vice-President JD Vance, who accused Brussels of punishing X “for not engaging in censorship.” The EU, he said, should be “supporting free speech, not attacking American companies over garbage.”

The clash underscores an intensifying struggle over who sets the rules for the global internet. The EU has positioned itself as the world’s strictest digital regulator, pushing platform accountability and user safety. Musk and his allies, however, frame these efforts as threats to free expression and US interests.