The European Union has fined Elon Musk’s social media platform X €120 million (£105 million) over its paid blue tick badges, an action that has prompted an angry reaction from the United States.

The European Commission stated that by allowing people to pay for a blue verified check mark on their profile, the platform “deceives users” because the firm is not “meaningfully verifying” who is behind the account. The Commission added that “This deception exposes users to scams, including impersonation frauds, as well as other forms of manipulation by malicious actors.”

In response, the US Federal Communications Commission accused the European Commission of targeting X merely because it was “a successful US tech company”.

Brendan Carr, chair of the FCC, wrote on X that “Europe is taxing Americans to subsidise a continent held back by Europe’s own suffocating regulations.”

These comments were echoed by US Vice-President JD Vance, who had lashed out at the EU amid rumors of the forthcoming fine. He claimed the platform was being punished “for not engaging in censorship” and asserted, “The EU should be supporting free speech, not attacking American companies over garbage.”

Social media expert Matt Navarra noted that these comments showed the fine was not “just a punishment [but] a statement” of the EU’s willingness to enforce its regulation of tech firms.

In addition to taking issue with the use of blue ticks, EU regulators criticized X for failing to provide transparency around its adverts and for not giving researchers access to public data.

The Commission explained how the penalty was calculated, stating, “The fine issued today was calculated taking into account the nature of these infringements, their gravity in terms of affected EU users, and their duration.”

Henna Virkkunen, the regulator’s executive vice-president for tech sovereignty, affirmed that the EU was “holding X responsible for undermining users’ rights and evading accountability.” She added: “Deceiving users with blue checkmarks, obscuring information on ads and shutting out researchers have no place online in the EU.”

The decision means that X must inform the Commission how it intends to bring the allegedly violating measures into compliance with EU laws, or face further, periodic fines. This action constitutes the Commission’s first decision on a platform’s “non-compliance” with its Digital Services Act, one of two rulebooks online firms must follow to operate in the EU. The DSA sets out obligations for platforms regarding content, data, and advertising, while the Digital Markets Act establishes how companies should operate to benefit consumers and competition.

The controversial blue tick changes were part of a sweeping set of reforms Musk implemented after acquiring Twitter in late 2022. The previous verification system, which required proof of identity, was replaced with one tied to the Premium subscription tier, requiring users to pay a monthly fee for the blue tick to be displayed.

To obtain a verified checkmark under the new rules, an X account must have a display name and profile picture, a confirmed phone number, and have been active in the previous 30 days. They must also not be “misleading or deceptive” or have engaged in spam activity. Musk launched this new system to incentivize subscriptions and boost X’s income, arguing it would also give blue tick holders a higher presence in replies and help tackle bots. However, it proved highly controversial due to warnings it might expose users to scams and impersonation.

Mr. Navarra said Musk’s new system marked a major departure from how platforms usually verify users. He told the BBC: “It’s a trust signal not a transaction, but on X that was flipped.”

He elaborated on the EU’s stance, saying, “There’s no meaningful ID check, there’s no rigorous validation and I think that’s where the EU has drawn the line,” while concluding that X had made itself “an easy first target” for the Commission’s scrutiny of deceptive design on social platforms.