Elon Musk breaks silence over EU-imposed $140M fine on X

Elon Musk has broken his silence over the EU-imposed $140 million fine on his social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

On Friday, the EU tech regulators slammed X with 120 million euros ($140 million) fine for breaching EU online content rules.

The EU sanction against X was the very first penalty given out under the bloc’s Digital Services Act (DSA), which requires online platforms to put efforts to tackle harmful and illegal content.

Taking to X, the CEO of SpaceX posted, “The ‘EU' imposed this crazy fine not just on X, but also on me personally, which is even more insane!”

“Therefore, it would seem appropriate to apply our response not just to the EU, but also to the individuals who took this action against me,” Musk added.

On his personal X account, Musk also reposted several posts censuring the EU’s decision and wrote, “Freedom of speech is the bedrock democracy. The only way to know what you are voting for.”

He also reposted a video with a caption promoting the significance of free speech, “We don't want to take money to Censor, Free speech is the bedrock of democracy, in order for X, formerly Twitter, to be the public square of the World. It's really got be a free speech platform that doesn't mean people can say illegal things, It's free speech within bounds of the law.”

US Vice President JD Vance also posted in support of free speech, “Rumors are swirling that the EU commission will fine X hundreds of millions of dollars for not engaging in censorship. The EU should be supporting free speech, not attacking American companies.”

Besides X, TikTok , Temu, and Meta were also charged with violating the DSA obligations.