The European Union has fined the X social media platform (formerly Twitter), owned by Elon Musk and his investment group, $140 million (usd) for violations of the EU Digital Services Act. The decision by the EU is likely to create even more friction between President Trump and the European Union. However, this problem is not difficult to solve.
The collective government within the EU accuse Elon Musk and X of permitting misinformation, disinformation and malinformation to appear on the platform.
The European DSA is ultimately designed to control information, that reality should not be debated. All efforts to control traditional and social media are efforts to control information.
The specifics of the reasoning for the fine are typically European. (1) Twitter allows ordinary people to deliver information at the same level as people who should be defined as more important. (2) Advertisers of those who pay for promotion of information on X are not easily identifiable – people need to figure it out on their own. (3) It is too difficult to figure out who is providing the information.
Basically, all of the EU concerns center around information control. It’s really an ideology issue. In the outlook of the EU, bureaucrats and elites feel they are superior and must rule/protect the people under them. Ordinary people having access to information that may or may not be approved by the EU is the underlying issue.
EUROPE – […] Before Musk acquired X, when it was previously known as Twitter, the checkmarks mirrored verification badges common on social media and were largely reserved for celebrities, politicians and other influential accounts, such as Beyonce, Pope Francis, writer Neil Gaiman and rapper Lil Nas X.
After he bought it in 2022, the site started issuing the badges to anyone who wanted to pay $8 per month.
That means X does not meaningfully verify who’s behind the account, “making it difficult for users to judge the authenticity of accounts and content they engage with,” the Commission said in its announcement.
X also fell short of the transparency requirements for its ad database, regulators said.
Platforms in the EU are required to provide a database of all the digital advertisements they have carried, with details such as who paid for them and the intended audience, to help researches detect scams, fake ads and coordinated influence campaigns. But X’s database, the Commission said, is undermined by design features and access barriers such as “excessive delays in processing.”
Regulators also said X also puts up “unnecessary barriers” for researchers trying to access public data, which stymies research into systemic risks that European users face.
“Deceiving users with blue checkmarks, obscuring information on ads and shutting out researchers have no place online in the EU. The DSA protects users,” Henna Virkkunen, the EU’s executive vice-president for tech sovereignty, security and democracy, said in a prepared statement. (more)
Stopping this nonsense is not complicated.
Attach a $1,000 free speech support fee to every European automobile sold in the USA.
Their pontificating ideology is less important than their need for money.
[SOURCE]
I wish Musk would repeat what he said to those advertiser/investors who pulled out of X when he bought Twitter from Jack
Cant wait
He will do it
The EU is also looking for money to finance Ukraine
Yes, Charlotte99, I agree. They have to find money somewhere and a multi billionaire is a prime target. 😀
$1,000 is a drop in the bucket that won’t discourage most buyers of $35K to $100+K premium vehicles.
Raise that $1,000 per vehicle fee to $10,000 per vehicle. Then it will have a material impact on sales that will be difficult if not impossible to ignore.
Agreed. Also place a 100% tariff on all other GERMAN and FRENCH products since they are the main henchwomen of the Nazi cartel. Squeeze their tiny balls.
I think henchwomen have ballettes. 🤔
I was lumping in Macron, specifically, among the henchwomen.
His are undescended for sure. Or did you mean Brigitte’s? 😳
+ “Blackrock Merz”.
The EU cabal is the same as the Clinton Cabal….. they are basically one in the same… working against our interests and literally trying to rob the American people.
Keep it simple like biden.
10%
Whatever works
True. Certainly wouldn’t stop me in a world where there is no good alternative. However, the Japanese and Koreans also make excellent “premium” or luxury vehicles that are direct competitors. If I am in the market for a regular (not M) BMW X5 for example (base price around $70k), i would be just as happy with a Genesis. Yes, the X5 is a better drive, but not better enough that I would pay a premium. Or, I would do the smart thing and buy a 2 year old X5 and let the first buyer absorb the tarrif and depreciation. In the end, the Euros would still take a hit. And considering the state of their manufacturing sector, it would be significant. I say do it.
Personally, i prefer BMW to a Lexus or any other Japanese or Korean premium brand is because i think it is extremely lazy to dress up a Toyota Highlander or Honda Pilot in different sheet metal and seat cushions, and call it a Lexus RX350 or Acura MDX. The power train is identical to their base brands. BMW is designed from the ground up as a premium vehicle, and it is obvious from the moment you drive off. But I’m not willing to die for that principle. Lazy is still nice enough.
I respect the well engineered German vehicles but I’m not willing to pay the exorbitant prices the German car dealers and most other aftermarket service garages charge for maintenance and repairs.
I just gor rid of my two Big Money Wasters.
The engineering is what powered the Blitzkrieg and lost them the war.
Yes its impressive if you can keep it up.
But its a hanger queen.
Price the required maintenance.
They are drooling thinking about stealing the 350 billion of Russian money that is frozen.
It is a good possibility the 350 billion is already gone.
They are drooling trying to CYA.
The money being gone would be a good reason to keep the war going.
Why are we still considered allies of these people?
Tradition!
Also the long but now invalid assumption (more illusion) that European nations are more democratic, socialist and free than marxist or fascist.
But the hard Truth is that their “socialism” has broken their budgets and now they’re desperately governing from an increasingly more fascist / authoritarian position.
Ha ha. Tradition, is this Fiddler on the Roof?
No, and I’m not Tevye 😎.
But seriously, “tradition” has created most of the momentum that has been the thin (but increasingly precarious) reason most Americans tend to take for granted that the US and Europe have been, are, and should remain allies.
I daresay that all those who accepted the covid jab as safe and effective are roughly the same group who assume all of western Europe & the UK are loyal allies of the U.S.
THat’s utter nonsense….. my ancestor fought the British… the Germans tried to starve my Great Grandmothers family…. and now the EU cucks are in bed with Democrats. They have never been our allies, nor my ancestors despite them being from the area.
“utter nonsense” ? Historically – over the past 80 years or so (post WWII)- a majority (not all of course) Americans have considered the Brits, French, Germans, Italians, Swedes, Swiss, etc. to be our allies via NATO. Primary schools taught students as much up to recently.
American tourists were encouraged to travel to all the European countries that were not behind the iron Curtain outside of the two world wars and prior to 1990, and to former Soviet-controlled EU nations post-1991. Many did so with varying degrees of satisfaction. Major media did their best to show positive relations with most EU nations up until those relations became too problematic to continue the charade.
But that “friendly relationship” has been an illusion (like the covid vaxx was an illusion) as more people become aware of the perfidy underlying the European’s supposed alliance with the US via NATO, the UN, etc. President Trump has expertly exposed the shakiness of the fake alliances, espec. NATO and the UN.
The hard truth is that President Trump has stopped funding their socialism. American taxpayers have propped up the EU and Canada since WWII, with American families working two or three jobs while Europeans take their afternoon siestas and two month vacations.
And they look down their noses at us. Until President Trump came along we also paid for their socialized medicine by making our own prescriptions unaffordable. We were charged triple, quadruple prices so they didn’t have to pay.
What really got me was when President Trump pulled out of the Paris “Climate” Accord and that somehow affected Commiefornia’s public pensions. Wtf is that.
Let the mooches figure out what it takes to be self sufficient for once in their protected and pampered lives.
“The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money.” -Margaret Thatcher
Good post.
Good points.
I had not read about the relationship between the Paris Climate Accords and Newscum’s budget for pensions, but I’ll research it.
They have already been rescued by the US in WWII and remains ungrateful as you say looking down their noses at us while their socialist superior society is funded by their lack of support for NATO. I would love for them to sit and spin on the unctuous behinds.
And USA is $32-trillion in debt.
EU & UK are middle men. Grifters. Probably worse. Idk.
Correction–$38 trillion.
Like the idea of a “Free Speech” tax on every auto out of the EU, but why just autos? Find the EU’s biggest cash cows and tag them all with $1000 or 2k each
Please see GB Bari’s comment up thread: $1K is a drop in the bucket. Really squeeze their little Nazi balls.
The only flaw is that a 35k vehicle is an economy car, not a luxury ride today, Hyundai’s go for more.. It also ignores the fact that Mercedes-Benz or BMW build every thing under a 600 series right here in the U.S. so who would be impacted the most? Sometimes things can be a bit more complicated then initially thought. Please do not interpret this a EU support, it’s not. IMHO, they were doomed from inception.
I believe they assemble the German autos here but the parts are manufactured in Germany.
Surely there must be some in the EU who do not support such “nanny state” regulations. Let’s hope they actually win elections and dismantle such monstrous government control. Never forget Karp and Thiel are always willing to help the EU government identify each individual for every governmental retribution possible.
>> Let’s hope they actually win elections
Uh oh, I don’t think Dominion is going to like that.
We’ll see who blinks first, the EU or X.
I would not give the EU good odds if a $1,000 USD tariff was applied to every automobile exported to the USA. German automakers certainly will beat down their doors to keep that market share.
This is likely going to be a lose-lose for the EU, where they get worse outcomes. FAFO and all.
The EU is becoming more like Communist China everyday. Wonder when the SLAVES will wake up?
The CCP is trying to kill the “diversity”, while the EU is destroying itself with it. Otherwise they may as well merge.
I would use a much more direct and to the point method – fine the EU government in Brussels $1B for attempts to circumvent our Constitution.
Trade arbitrage with the United States is where they get much of their budgets.
Speaking of which, an extra $1,000 on some 5.4 million autos exported to the USA would be ~$5.4 billion. Then there’s all the other industrial sectors.
It’s a target rich environment. The EU cannot win this in this sort of engagement when they have hundreds of billions in trade surpluses with the United States.
“Attach a $1,000 free speech support fee to every European automobile sold in the USA.”
Great idea, but it strikes me as a little on the low side.
How about 10% msrp.
X has reportedly got at least 650 million regular users, not to mention the millions of casual users. If 150 million sent a dollar to X that would show the EU what they thought of their threats.
Apply that same formula to funding maga candidates for federal office & you literally break the quisling, rino cartel known as the republican party’s control of CONgress.
THe EU cucks are doing exactly what Obama and his cohorts the CLinton faction were doing… shaking down Bezo’s Musk, etc….
We can solve these problems rather simply.
Does not meaningfully verify who’s behind the account ? That’s rich
They are propably quite exercised about X revealing the identies and countries of origin of various accounts….maybe X could show more about (alledgely) European accounts?
Do we really need X to explain to us who all the bots, commies and Euroweenies are? That would take all the fun out of smoking them out and ridiculing them mercilessly.
Whenever someone tries to censor and/or coerce compliance for our “safety,” I always opt to exercise my own cerebral cortex, thank you very much.
Real Deal Nazi’s they never lost WWII. They are the deep state.
The Nazi flag hidden under the EU flag is a nice touch.
Yep. And Von der Lügen’s attempt at a resolute pose in the picture is great.
🍿
F Rubio. Stop worrying about X and deal with NATO and the EU like a man. Defund the UN and kick them out of NY. You wimp. We should break diplomatic relations with the UK and tariff the living hell out of the EU. And no money for the nazi’s in Ukraine either.
Diplomacy is clearly not your strong suit.
Why would we be diplomatic with foreign agents that are aligned with Clinton’s?
We should start by kicking out the Royals and all FSO agents from the EU that are embedded in Georgetown and other areas/universities.
They also tagged Musk directly with these so I think the correct response is going after the EU Bureaucrats directly too… it’s really the only way they might learn.
I love Musk’s response: “Boloney Sandwich”. (Or something like that.)
See
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/G7bOhcNWAAAmZwV?format=jpg&name=small
There are FOUR LIGHTS!!!
Put a 100% tariff on everything coming in from the EU.
Better idea: Ban all visitors to the USA from these totalitarian dictatorships. “If you don’t believe in free speech, you can’t visit the USA !” (…and the horse you rode in on)
Americans DO believe in free speech.
No tourists from European nations should be allowed into the USA. Americans don’t believe in government censorship of speech. KEEP OUT ! !
After COVID you still BELIEVE that. Were you oblivious to our government, all three branches, suppressing free speech. And I haven’t noticed the Judges being impeached, Senators and Representatives voted out of office, the President in office promoting suppression of free speech being impeached, etc, etc,
The gov’t imposed the suppression ….. However, *We the People* gave it up without any fight whatsoever… just sayin!
That was the worst part. Once trust is broken it is impossible to restore. These people are playing for all the marbles.
Trump Should Retaliate: The EU’s Attack on 𝕏 Is a Trade War Disguised as Regulation
@amuse
Dec 05, 2025
https://newsletter.amuseonx.com/p/trump-should-retaliate-the-eus-attack?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email&triedRedirect=true
—
Alternate link for non Twitter people:
https://archive.is/lkfA7
Elon needs to tell the EU to piss off. Yank Starlink too.
Bingo
Shut off european access bye
BREAKING: Elon Musk just said the European Union didn’t ONLY fine X $140 million.
They fined Elon HIMSELF.
An American citizen is being fined for free speech by our “ALLIES.”
“It would seem appropriate to apply our response not just to the EU, but also to the individuals who took this action against me.”
The EU must be FORCED into reversing this with sanctions!
I stand with @ElonMusk against censorship!
The EU is only going after him for this reason
https://nitter.poast.org/EricLDaugh/status/1997078283263860990#m
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.
https://nitter.poast.org/elonmusk/status/1997074246187512186#m
You may have heard about X being fined today in relation to Blue Ticks, but you may not have heard that there’s another investigation ongoing into X launched by Jeremy Godfrey of the Irish Media Commission last month.
https://nitter.poast.org/MickOKeeffe/status/1997019915073536308#m
Mike Benz called it
He said The European Union would begin fining Elon Musk and X to force censorship
This is EXACTLY what’s happening right now with the EU announcing a $140 million dollar fine for “violating the Digital Services Act”
Mike Benz said the organizations who got money from USAID to push censorship would now pressurize the EU to force censorship
“Mark my words that USA Truman show, these censors in exile, these, regime changers in exile right now are going to cling on to every international ally.
They will be pressurizing the United Nations.
They’ll be pressurizing multilateral organizations like NATO, the EU, and even some of these economic development PACs to use the critical components they have there and sometimes dominant spot they have there to weaponize those assets”
https://nitter.poast.org/WallStreetApes/status/1997063899536150549#m
They aren’t fining him, they are doing a shakedown….. exactly what Obama and Biden were doing via FTC and other crooks in the Govt’
I am not on ‘X’ and do not know how it works (nor do I care), perhaps Mr. Musk could place a comment on every account alleging to be operated by an entity of the EU. After a few days a similar statement could be placed on any account alleging to be operated by a member nation of the EU. A few days later place a similar statement on any account alleging to be by an official of any such entity.
“As we can not meaningfully verify who is behind this account and can not verify that it is not permitting misinformation, disinformation and malinformation to appear, this account is blocked until further notice.”
Probably more difficult than I imagine, but Mr. Musk and his team are a lot sharper than I ever was or will ever be, and it may be quite simple for them.
Best wishes Mr. Musk
Dutch it is a great place to get your aggregated news and opinion. You can build your own trusted sources. Last Refuge is active on X.
von der Hitler is letting her Nazi unmask.
“No Starlink for You.” Also, we have too many military bases abroad anyway. Bye!
Pull our troops out of Germany,close the bases and no less than three towns get shuttered.
“Socialists cry “Power to the people” and raise the clenched fist as they say it. We all know what they really mean – power over people, power to the State.”
~ Margaret Thatcher
First of all, the EU has no intention to “protect the people under them.” They hate their “subjects” almost as much as the Uniparty hates us! Instead, they seek to protect themselves, by keeping the people under them in the dark. If the people were aware of all of the EU’s shenanigans, there would be massive riots in the streets!
Secondly, the UK is no better. An opp to silence Breitbart has also just been uncovered.
Third, implement a 100% tariff on all imported products from the UK, France and Germany.
Forth, make it absolutely clear, once and for all, that any retaliation against the EU, or UK for their continual poking of “the Bear” is on them and they will have earned every bit of it. NATO is a defensive organization and any retaliation incurred as a direst result of their aggression towards a third party will NOT trigger the USA’s mutual defense commitments. They are not authorized to start a war on our behalf and we will not stand for it!!!
Let’s see how bold the EU is, when they have to stand on their own two hind legs and face the wrath of the Russians alone! I expect that this will immediately end all of their saber rattling.
I can’t remember the last time Breitbart broke a story or had an insightful article. They are not much more than Radar Online.
It’s not that they are left or deceitful, they are just irrelevant.
Some still think that Breitbart is the Breitbart of Andrew. It’s not.
Grifters.
The EU has a Digital Services Act and a Digital Markets Act — yet they don’t have a digital market to provide a platform for digital services. Their arrogance knows no bounds.
The blue checkmark really had no authenticity behind it either as we know some politicians and celebrities have social media assistants who composed all the tweets.
Nobody believes that Joe Biden made those tweets on Twitter /X
There is nothing new under the sun. What once was will be again.
The attack on Elon is much larger than him. It is also attack on Trump. If control freaks can get away with their attacks on Elon and Trump they’ll cast their thought and speech control “iron curtain” over the Trump Admin, MAGA, and all people who think for themselves.
Control Freaks like Klaus Shwab and other Global magicians at the very apex of the Global Pyramid want to create a cosmic living organism in which each human is but a molecule of evolving conscious matter. This freakish idea is the revised and revamped vision of ancient pagan Hermetic magicians.
Those darn peasants knowing stuff is plain wrong. We, the ruling class, must stop this before they get to thinking for themselves.
As the fascism increases in the EU, UK, Aus, NZ and Canada, the USA might see a flood of indigenous citizens seeking to relocate. The 1930s replay.
Interesting. Before I read the article, I figured X was being sued for now indicating the country each poster was posting from. ‘Data protection’ in the EU is nothing short of clown world. Your internet posts are combed for ‘misinformation’, but a golf club is no longer allowed to make a public list, in the club, of the names of its members
Musk should remove access to Starlink in Ukraine. The savings in operational costs could go toward the fine. I’m sure the EU and Ukraine army wouldn’t miss it much apart from the ability for communications to the frontline and targeting systems going blind.
The more I thought about this situation, the more complicated it became and I’m still thunking on it.
My father taught me at an early age to always check the original premise of a statement or question. He also stated that after that it would be beneficial to view the matter or position in a reverse or opposing manner in order to have a better understanding of the whole picture. With all that in mind, ‘I have two questions’.
If a foreign company or individual is legally visiting, living, or doing business in the US, do they have to follow our US laws? Do they have freedom of speech while here in the US?
I believe that the answer to both questions should be an unqualified yes.
So let’s check my premise and “reverse” the first question. Should American individuals and/or companies adhere to the laws of the country they are visiting, living, or doing business in? I think the answer is yes.
As to the second question–If that country does not allow ‘freedom of speech’ or any other ‘freedoms and rights’ we have here, then we have to accept and deal with that whether we agree or not. We are in their country and have to accept their rules/laws or leave or not go in the first place.
Now how do you view this EU ruling?
Just as one example–Didn’t we sanction and take to court Russian individuals, companies, and government officials that “tried to “influence” our 2016 election in social media and the press? Probably not a great example, but it is a starting point. How about what laws and rights of the many foreign individuals or companies that own land, property, or businesses here in the US?
And yes, I realize that it is more complicated than that and there are many issues involved, but that is why I’m still pondering and examining my own viewpoint and reactions as well as the many issues we face here in our beloved America.
Anywho….Just ‘thought for mental food’ in this discussion.
My current thoughts on the EU ruling and Twitter/Elon Musk situation.
Maybe Musk could state(like Sundance always has) that there is no “dis, mis, mal” information just information and that if there is no freedom of speech in the EU then he will not pay the fine or do business in the EU. (Yup, he’d take a financial hit.)
Or he can just agree with all the EU mandates and write off the expense and principles in order to do business there. His choice. Just as it is up to all of us individually, or as business owners, and/or our country to deal with other countries.
“people need to figure it out on their own. (3) It is too difficult to figure out who is providing the information.”
That is the rub of X. A person has to decide who to trust and who to read. It is work. But it is no different than going to the Treehouse. If the EU is successful throttling the truth on X, the next step will be to block sites like CTH. I am kind of surprised you are not blocked in the EU? I quit going to the “for you” section of X…it is a sea of Leftism.
Building your own “news” is a worthwhile endeavor. And then we still only get partial truths. The government is so big and hides so much. Thank you for what you do here.
Hasn’t the malarky, oops, I mean monarchy always taken care?
Attach a $1,000 free speech support fee to every European automobile sold in the USA.
“So how many words to the liter does she get?”
“Platforms in the EU are required to provide a database of all the digital advertisements they have carried, with details such as who paid for them and the intended audience, to help researches detect scams, fake ads and coordinated influence campaigns.” Wait a sec. I thought that was MiniTrue’s job. /s
Are all their politicians, government officials, and EU officials also required to provide the same?
<chuckles with a sigh>
Vance was right many months ago.
“Free speech support fee” – I laughed, but that would actually work!
They just sound so silly! Can you imagine your government deciding what you can see or read or say? That’s Communism.
Stating the obvious.
It is time to cut bait. The EU has a plan, and it is up to European citizens to thwart that plan. I hope our country never fights another war to rescue Europe.
The EUCaliphate is hemorrhaging from lack of money/energy to feed/house all their rapeUgees. They have basically no military and their industrial base is dying.
Within 20yrs or less, NATO Countries won’t be the original ‘NATO’ Signitaries and it won’t be NATO as the globalist uni party. Instead, Mohammed, will be the ‘NATO’…How’s that going to work? America will be defending Allah Snackbar?
Time to drop NATO on its hibjab.
EUCaliphate has become no better than Chyna and can’t be our allies.
EUCaliphate ….should not suprize anyone. Most common name is Mohammed.
Islamistheproblem 🚨
Europe has culturally had ” More Important” people, aka royalty for hundreds if not thousands of years. Their we know better attitude is inbred.
This new batch is turning out worse than Nazi Germany.
Another EU shake-down.
I reiterate:
It’s nothing but a shake-down.
And the data that both EU and Musk got from the people bemoaning just helped categorize who’s who.
Musk can afford it.