The tech mogul is contesting a $120 million fine imposed by the Brussels bloc under its DSA censorship laws<\/p>\n
The US government has joined Elon Musk\u2019s appeal against an EU fine imposed on X, accusing Brussels of \u201cregulatory overreach\u201d and escalating a transatlantic clash over its regulation of US tech firms.
\nThe European Commission fined X \u20ac120 million ($136.51 million) for alleged violations of its 2022 Digital Services Act, the first such penalty under the bloc\u2019s Digital Services Act (DSA), a vast legislative censorship and media control apparatus. Brussels accused the platform of breaching rules on transparency, advertising, and data access, as well as using a deceptive blue-tick system for verified accounts.
\nMusk, who has claimed the EU\u2019s tech regulations stall technological progress and equated the bloc to a \u201cFourth Reich\u201d over them, appealed\u00a0the decision in February, seeking to overturn the fine.
\nOn Thursday, the US Department of Justice said it had filed an application to intervene in support of Musk\u2019s legal challenge.
\n\u201cThe European Commission inappropriately attempted to expand its regulatory authority to reach American companies not present or operating within its jurisdiction,\u201d Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate said. \u201cWe will not tolerate the European Commission engaging in regulatory over-reach to try and control American engines of innovation and economic growth.\u201d<\/p>\n
\ud83d\udea8 United States Files Request to Intervene in Case Brought by X Corp. and Elon Musk Seeking to Annul Decision by European Commission\u201cThe European Commission inappropriately attempted to expand its regulatory authority to reach American companies not present or operating within\u2026\u2014 DOJ Civil Division (@DOJCivil) September 24, 2026 <\/p>\n
The Justice Department warned that the case \u2013 the first DSA enforcement challenge to reach the General Court \u2013 could set a precedent for US tech firms. Citing \u201csignificant concerns\u201d over Brussels\u2019 approach to liability and jurisdiction, it said Washington has an interest in \u201cprotecting American companies from foreign extraterritorial enforcement action.\u201d<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Big tech hands in its DSA censorship reports to the EU<\/p>\n
Separately, the EU is investigating X for other potential DSA breaches, including its approach to content moderation and explicit images generated by its Grok AI chatbot. Under the DSA, the EU has also probed Meta Platforms and Amazon, while Apple was fined under a sister law, the Digital Markets Act, over alleged anti-competitive behavior in its App Store. Apple is appealing a \u20ac500 million fine under the regulation.
\nNeither the European Commission nor X responded to media requests for comment on the US intervention.
\nUS-EU clash over Big Tech
\nEU scrutiny of US tech firms has become a major source of friction between Brussels and the administration of President Donald Trump, which has backed claims that the bloc unfairly targets American tech giants and harms digital free speech. Senior administration figures, including Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, have criticized the EU\u2019s fine on X as an attack on American companies. Musk previously accused the EU of trying to shut down X, claiming in 2024 that the commission had offered him an \u201cillegal secret deal\u201d to \u201cquietly censor speech\u201d to avoid a fine.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
EU targets ChatGPT, Reddit, and Roblox under censorship law<\/p>\n
Trump has railed against the X fine, calling it \u201cnasty\u201d and warning that \u201cEurope is going in some bad direction.\u201d He has strongly condemned the DSA and related tech regulations, repeatedly labeling them \u201coverseas extortion\u201d and a \u201cform of taxation.\u201d He has threatened new tariffs on European goods unless the EU rolls back the regulatory penalties. The European Commission has rejected Trump\u2019s criticism, insisting the DSA is non-discriminatory and applies equally to all large tech platforms operating in Europe.
\nDSA: Online safety or censorship?
\nBrussels sells the DSA as an online-safety law meant to fight illegal content and \u201cdisinformation.\u201d Critics see something far more sinister: an expanding censorship and narrative-control regime that gives unelected EU officials sweeping leverage over political speech \u2013 and over the largely American tech platforms that carry it.
\nThat criticism gained ammunition\u00a0from a 2026 report by Republicans on the US House Judiciary Committee.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
The US has accused the EU of censorship: Here\u2019s how the bloc\u2019s consensus machine works\u00a0<\/p>\n
They have accused the bloc of a \u201cclear bias\u201d toward censoring conservative and populist parties, pointing to its intervention\u00a0in Romania\u2019s election, then in Hungary, where arch EU critic Viktor Orban was heavily defeated by pro-EU Peter Magyar. It also cited pressure on platforms in Slovakia, the Netherlands, France, Moldova, and Ireland, as well as at EU level.
\nBrussels has also gone beyond pressuring platforms. The EU banned RT and Sputnik in 2022 and has sought tighter controls on what it considers Russian disinformation, and has since pushed platforms to clamp down on what Brussels labels Russian disinformation. The commission itself admitted DSA-linked mechanisms are being used to address Ukraine-related content and election risks. Critics argue that, backed by the threat of massive fines, the system gives Brussels powerful leverage over narratives that challenge its political and foreign-policy consensus.
\nThat leaves a stark divide over what Brussels\u2019 flagship internet law actually does. The EU calls it online safety; its critics see a censorship architecture capable of suppressing dissenting narratives, shaping the information environment around elections, and forcing global tech platforms to police political speech on Brussels\u2019 terms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The tech mogul is contesting a $120 million fine imposed by the Brussels bloc under its DSA censorship laws The US government has joined Elon Musk\u2019s appeal against an EU…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38854,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38853","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t