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<p><span style="font-weight:400">X has surged in popularity after the European Union announced last week that it had fined the social media platform for violating transparency rules and other regulations.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400">Elon Musk, who purchased X in 2022, has celebrated X’s surging popularity and mocked the European Union’s attempts to punish the free speech platform. Musk has touted rankings that show X has become the most downloaded app across Europe since the EU announced its action against Musk’s platform.</span></p>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Now number 1 in every EU country! <a href="https://t.co/tQOpiPVRkw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://t.co/tQOpiPVRkw</a></p>
<p>— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1997726311754989762?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">December 7, 2025</a></p>
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<p><span style="font-weight:400">“X is seeing record-breaking downloads in many countries in Europe,” Musk </span><a href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1997710799440429292" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight:400">posted</span></a><span style="font-weight:400"> on Sunday.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400">“The European Union is not DEMOcracy–rule of the people–but rather BUREAUcracy–rule of the unelected bureaucrat!” Musk added in a </span><a href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1997711558508695979" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight:400">post</span></a><span style="font-weight:400"> several minutes later.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400">The European Commission, the main governing body of the European Union, announced on Friday that it had </span><a href="https://x.com/EU_Commission/status/1996968219286904832" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight:400">fined</span></a><span style="font-weight:400"> X the equivalent of about $140 million for “non-compliance with transparency obligations under the [Digital Services Act].”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400">The commission </span><a href="https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_25_2934" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight:400">said</span></a><span style="font-weight:400"> that X’s “blue checkmark” stamp on accounts, which is given to those accounts that pay for verification, is deceptive. The commission also accused X of illegally blocking researchers and governments from accessing parts of its data.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-weight:400">In a response from X’s head of product, Nikita Bier accused the commission of hypocrisy, exploiting a bug in X’s platform for advertisements to extend the reach of the commission’s video announcing its action against X. Bier said that X has since cut off the commission’s access to X’s Ad Composer tool for using it to deceive users.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400">“The irony of your announcement: You logged into your dormant ad account to take advantage of an exploit in our Ad Composer — to post a link that deceives users into thinking it’s a video and to artificially increase its reach,” Bier </span><a href="https://x.com/nikitabier/status/1997450541275005041" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight:400">posted</span></a><span style="font-weight:400">. “As you may be aware, X believes everyone should have an equal voice on our platform. However, it seems you believe that the rules should not apply to your account. Your ad account has been terminated.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400">Bier’s response was reposted by Musk.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400">The commission’s action against Musk has riled top officials in the Trump administration, deepening a divide between the United States and Europe over regulation and speech.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400">“The European Commission’s $140 million fine isn’t just an attack on [X], it’s an attack on all American tech platforms and the American people by foreign governments. The days of censoring Americans online are over,” </span><a href="https://x.com/SecRubio/status/1996974377003319667" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight:400">said</span></a><span style="font-weight:400"> Secretary of State Marco Rubio.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400">“The EU should be supporting free speech not attacking American companies over garbage,” </span><a href="https://x.com/JDVance/status/1996701953372704921" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight:400">said</span></a><span style="font-weight:400"> Vice President JD Vance a day before the fine was announced.</span></p>
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X Users Skyrocket After European Union Targets Musk With $140M Fine
