According to TechRepublic, X, owned by Elon Musk, has terminated the European Commission’s advertising account. This action came just days after the Commission issued a €120 million (about $129 million) fine against the platform for violating the Digital Services Act (DSA). The fine, the first ever under the DSA, targeted X’s “deceptive” paid verification system and its lack of transparency around political ads. X’s Head of Product, Nikita Bier, personally ordered the account shutdown, accusing the EU of misusing an “exploit” in the Ad Composer tool to artificially boost a post about the fine. The European Commission has refuted the claim, stating it uses platforms “in good faith.” In response, Elon Musk called the fine “bullshit” and posted that “the EU should be abolished.”
The Real Fight Is Over Control
Look, this isn’t really about an ad account or even a €120 million fine. That’s pocket change for a platform of X’s scale. The real fight here is about who gets to set the rules. The DSA is the EU’s big stick, and they just used it for the first time. They’re saying, “Our rules apply on your global platform.” Musk and X are essentially responding, “Not on our property, they don’t.” By shutting down the regulator’s own account, X is making a theatrical point about sovereignty. It’s a power move, plain and simple. The accusation about exploiting an ad tool? That feels like the technical pretext for a deeply political retaliation. Here’s the thing: can a platform legally shut down the account of the government body regulating it? We’re about to find out.
A Gift To Musk’s Political Allies
And just like that, Elon Musk has a new, perfect villain for his narrative. His call to abolish the EU and the supportive echoes from figures like U.S. Senator Marco Rubio turn a regulatory spat into a transatlantic culture war. For critics of “Big Tech” regulation in the U.S., the EU is the overreaching bogeyman. This clash provides fantastic fodder for that argument. Musk isn’t just fighting a fine; he’s rallying a political base. He’s framing X as a bastion of free speech under attack by meddling bureaucrats. Whether you buy that or not is irrelevant—it’s effective theater. It distracts from the substantive DSA violations about ad transparency and data access for researchers. Now the conversation is about “censorship” and sovereignty, which is exactly where Musk wants it.
The Absurd Irony Of It All
Let’s talk about the irony, which is so thick you could cut it with a knife. The EU fined X because its blue check system is “deceptive” and doesn’t verify who’s behind an account. Then, X turns around and accuses the EU of “deceiving users” with a link that looks like a video. Pot, meet kettle. Bier’s claim that the EU used an “exploit” that has “never been abused like this” is also pretty rich. Basically, they’re saying a major government institution found a bug in their system and used it. Isn’t that… exactly the kind of thing the DSA is supposed to encourage platforms to fix? The whole incident reads like a schoolyard fight where both sides are yelling, “You started it!” The Commission’s statement that it expects tools to be “in line with the platforms’ own terms and conditions” is a masterclass in bureaucratic shade. They’re calmly pointing out that they just used the buttons X provided.
What Happens Next?
So where does this go? The EU isn’t backing down. They’ve given X 60 days to address the core DSA violations, or face more penalties. Suspending an ad account doesn’t make that legal order disappear. If anything, it probably strengthens the EU’s resolve. They can now point to this as evidence of X acting in bad faith and being an uncooperative “gatekeeper” platform. This could escalate far beyond ads. We’re talking about potential restrictions on operations or even more staggering fines. For X, the calculus might be different. The financial hit from losing EU ad revenue (which they already suspended months ago) might be worth the political capital gained elsewhere. But it sets a dangerous precedent. If they’ll shut down the EU’s account, who’s next? This is a high-stakes game of chicken, and neither side looks like it’s swerving. Buckle up.
