US Justice Department backs X in fight against €120m EU DSA fine
Washington’s move turns an EU enforcement test case into a cross‑border dispute over who can regulate US tech firms.
The US Department of Justice has asked to intervene in Elon Musk and X’s lawsuit to overturn a €120m EU fine imposed under the Digital Services Act. The European Commission fined X in December 2025 for misleading users with paid blue checkmarks, insufficient ad transparency and restricting researcher access to public data. US Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate argued the EU was overreaching by extending its regulatory authority to American companies beyond its jurisdiction. The DOJ says the United States has a direct interest in how the EU’s territorial jurisdiction is interpreted, given the importance of US-headquartered digital services to its economy. The case is the first formal non-compliance ruling under the DSA and comes as the EU pursues additional probes into X, including its Grok AI assistant’s alleged role in generating sexualised images of real people.
Why it matters
By stepping into X’s appeal, the US government turns what began as the EU’s first formal Digital Services Act non‑compliance ruling into a test of how far Brussels’ online rules can reach American platforms. The Justice Department says it wants the decision kept within accepted territorial limits, while the Commission is already pursuing further probes into X, including over Grok’s alleged role in generating sexualised images, raising the stakes for future EU actions against US‑based services.
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Sources
- BBC Technology