The European Commission fined X €120 mln for non-compliance with transparency obligations under the DSA

On December 5, 2025, the European Commission fined X €120 million for non-compliance with transparency obligations under the Digital Services Act (DSA), holding X accountable for:

• Deceptive design of its ‘blue checkmark’
• Lack of transparency of its advertising repository
• Failure to provide access to public data for researchers

The Commission supervises very large online platforms (VLOPs) and search engines (VLOSEs), issuing information requests and taking action. The fine was calculated taking into account the nature of these infringements, their gravity in terms of affected EU users, and their duration. Failure to comply with the decision may lead to periodic penalty payments for X.

While the DSA does not mandate user verification, it clearly prohibits online platforms from falsely claiming that users have been verified, when no such verification took place, stresses the Commission. Regarding the ads repository, the Commission notes in its decision that X incorporates design features and access barriers, such as excessive delays in processing and that the repository lacks critical information, such as the content and topic of the advertisement, as well as the legal entity paying for it. X's processes for researchers' access to public data also impose unnecessary barriers, effectively undermining research into several systemic risks in the EU.

This is the first-ever non-compliance decision under the European Union’s flagship online platforms regulation, that entered into force in 2022 but became fully applicable and entered its main enforcement phase in 2024 (with the audits, risk assessments, and transparency reporting obligations for VLOPs/VLOSEs).

X has 90 days to make its platform compliant or else face further penalties.

Also on December 5, the European Commission announced that it accepts TikTok’s commitments on advertising transparency under the DSA. The Commission opened formal proceedings to assess whether TikTok may have breached the Digital Services Act on 19 February 2024 and in May 2025 its published preliminary findings of non-compliance on advertising transparency. The Commission has also opened formal proceedings against TikTok on its management of risks related to elections and civic discourse, for which the investigation continues.

The European Commission designated X as a VLOP in April 2023 because it exceeded the threshold of 45 million monthly active users in the EU, triggering stricter obligations under the DSA. X had previously signed the Code of Practice on Disinformation (CoP, now Code of Conduct) but left the same year after being acquired by Elon Musk, making it an outlier among other VLOPs (Amazon Store, Apple App Store, and Booking.com are also VLOPs under the DSA and are not parties to the Code, but have never signed it.)

On 21 November 2025, Bulgaria finalized its own implementation of the DSA with amendments to the Electronic Communications Act designating the Communications Regulation Commission as the national Digital Services Coordinator overseeing all intermediary service providers except video-sharing platforms, which remain under the Council for Electronic Media. The CRC has the power to certify out-of-court dispute resolution bodies, award the status of trusted flaggers and vetted researchers, and collect information from a broader range of actors in the digital ecosystem in Bulgaria.

Image: https://x.com/EU_Commission/status/1996968219286904832