{"slug": "eu-vows-to-defend-its-stand-against-x-after-the-us-backs-a-court-challenge-from", "title": "EU vows to defend its stand against X after the US backs a court challenge from Elon Musk", "summary": "The European Commission said Friday it is ready to defend a 120 million euro ($137 million) fine against X in the EU's General Court after the U.S. Justice Department filed an application on Thursday to support Elon Musk's bid to have the case annulled. European Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier called it the EU's \"sovereign right\" to draft legislation protecting its citizens, saying \"We are ready to defend our position in court.\" The fine, issued late last year under the Digital Services Act over X's blue checkmarks and what regulators called \"deceptive design practices,\" was the first penalty under the bloc's digital content rules.", "body_md": "**Getting your**\n\n[Trinity Audio](//trinityaudio.ai)player ready...\n**By LORNE COOK and KELVIN CHAN**\n\nBRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union’s executive arm said Friday it’s prepared to defend a 120 million euro ($137 million) fine against the social media platform X after the U.S. government threw its support behind a legal effort by Elon Musk this week to have the case dismissed.\n\nThe [European Commission fined X](https://apnews.com/article/x-elon-musk-twitter-european-union-regulations-0a135601e050518d5aa0a0155f973177) late last year for breaches of the bloc’s landmark digital regulations, stoking tensions with Washington.\n\nThe U.S. Justice Department said Thursday that it had filed an application to support X’s bid to have the case annulled at the European Union’s General Court. It was the second time in three months that the Justice Department has intervened to defend a company owned by Musk.\n\nIn July, the Justice Department [filed a motion](https://apnews.com/article/musk-xai-data-center-memphis-pollution-naacp-0e981ca0508d7e4144662392d9d66ab2) to intervene in a civil rights lawsuit that alleges Musk’s xAI is illegally running dozens of natural gas turbines to [power a $20 billion AI data center](https://apnews.com/article/xai-musk-data-center-mississippi-memphis-433691ace945708a04762b4791602f3d) in Mississippi.\n\nIn that case, the NAACP and other groups said xAI failed to get a permit for its power plant — which is located near homes, schools and churches — [creating health risks for families](https://apnews.com/article/memphis-xai-elon-musk-pollution-naacp-571c16950259b382f9eae61bd59260ef) in North Mississippi and nearby Memphis and violating the federal Clean Air Act.\n\nTrump and the world’s richest businessman appeared to dial down a [war of words](https://apnews.com/article/trump-musk-their-own-words-c0108037881469f0b5bdd8df87eba6b4) that stunned Washington and Wall Street alike last year after Musk called Trump’s [tax breaks and spending cuts](https://apnews.com/article/congress-tax-cuts-trump-f2c60ae5c7c1313de69446f9ac7176e6) a “disgusting abomination.”\n\nMusk on Thursday evening attended a [state dinner](https://apnews.com/article/trump-xi-state-dinner-menu-fashion-d005bcd1ce76fdcd9d94c6b3d18a457e) held by Trump honoring China’s leader [Xi Jinping](https://apnews.com/hub/xi-jinping), along with other tech titans.\n\nThe EU fine against X, which followed a [two-year investigation](https://apnews.com/article/x-twitter-european-union-musk-dsa-645e9a224cd82ed1bc3cde9156215293), was the first penalty issued under the bloc’s digital regulations governing online content. Regulators said X’s blue checkmarks broke the rules because they involved“deceptive design practices” and could expose users to scams and manipulation.\n\nEuropean Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier said Friday that it is the EU’s “sovereign right” to draft legislation aimed at protecting its citizens.\n\n“We are enforcing our legislation objectively, transparently and with a solid case,” he told reporters. “We are ready to defend our position in court. We have a lot of evidence at our disposal, and it will be for the court to decide as always.”\n\nThe commission is the top enforcer of the 27-nation EU’s [Digital Services Act](https://apnews.com/article/digital-services-act-social-media-regulation-europe-26d76cc4785df1153669258766cc6387), which requires tech companies to clean up their online platforms under threat of hefty financial penalties.\n\nBut the rulebook has become a flashpoint with the Trump administration, and U.S. officials have criticized it as amounting to online censorship.\n\nThe Justice Department warned that the fine, if upheld, “may have significant implications” for U.S. online platforms and other companies providing digital services in the EU.\n\nAssistant Attorney General Brett Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division said in Thursday’s statement that the “European Commission inappropriately attempted to expand its regulatory authority to reach American companies not present or operating within its jurisdiction,”\n\n“We will not tolerate the European Commission engaging in regulatory overreach to try and control American engines of innovation and economic growth,” he said.\n\nWhen asked whether the Justice Department had informed the commission that it intended to back Musk, Regnier said: “We do not need to be informed about anything.”\n\nHe said the commission doesn’t expect the case to hurt broader relations between Brussels and Washington, notably in talks to mitigate the damage of Trump administration tariffs.\n\n“From our perspective, nothing will change because of a DSA case,” he said.\n\n*AP Business Writer Kelvin Chan contributed to this report from London.*", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/eu-vows-to-defend-its-stand-against-x-after-the-us-backs-a-court-challenge-from", "canonical_source": "https://www.ocregister.com/2026/09/25/doj-musk-eu-fine/", "published_at": "2026-09-25 20:14:25+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-09-25 20:29:55.794316+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-policy"], "entities": ["European Commission", "X", "Elon Musk", "U.S. Justice Department", "Thomas Regnier", "Digital Services Act", "European Union General Court", "Brett Shumate"], "also_reported_by": [], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/eu-vows-to-defend-its-stand-against-x-after-the-us-backs-a-court-challenge-from", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/eu-vows-to-defend-its-stand-against-x-after-the-us-backs-a-court-challenge-from.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/eu-vows-to-defend-its-stand-against-x-after-the-us-backs-a-court-challenge-from.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/eu-vows-to-defend-its-stand-against-x-after-the-us-backs-a-court-challenge-from.jsonld"}}