In an unintended twist of digital-age irony, the European Union’s $140 million fine against X — formerly Twitter — may have backfired spectacularly. Instead of weakening the platform or curbing its influence, the EU's punitive action has done something else entirely: catapulted X to the top of app store charts across Europe and reignited a global debate over free speech, regulation, and digital sovereignty.
At the center of it all is Elon Musk, who has turned the controversy into a public relations triumph. Musk, never one to shy away from confrontation, celebrated the platform’s surge in popularity with a characteristic blend of data and derision. “X is seeing record-breaking downloads in many countries in Europe,” he posted Sunday. He followed up with a barb that cut to the heart of the issue: “The European Union is not DEMOcracy–rule of the people–but rather BUREAUcracy–rule of the unelected bureaucrat!”
The EU’s fine, issued under the Digital Services Act, accuses X of violating transparency obligations — specifically regarding the visibility of its paid verification system (the now-infamous blue checkmarks), and limiting data access to researchers and governments. But what the Commission framed as a regulatory necessity, many are now seeing as an ideological offensive: a bureaucratic body going after a platform that refuses to conform to European norms around “acceptable speech.”
Now number 1 in every EU country! https://t.co/tQOpiPVRkw
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 7, 2025
X responded with force. Nikita Bier, X’s head of product, took aim at the EU’s conduct directly, revealing that the European Commission had used a dormant advertising account to exploit a glitch in X’s ad platform — allegedly to deceptively amplify its video announcement of the fine. “Your ad account has been terminated,” Bier wrote bluntly.
Musk reposted the takedown, amplifying it to millions, while the EU found itself on the defensive — not just against X, but against a growing chorus of American officials.
Leading voices in the Trump administration have seized on the moment. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the fine “an attack on all American tech platforms and the American people by foreign governments.” Vice President JD Vance was even more direct: “The EU should be supporting free speech not attacking American companies over garbage.”
At its core, this clash is about more than a fine. It's about the growing divergence between European-style governance, which favors tight digital regulations, and the American free speech tradition, now being reasserted in the tech world by figures like Musk — and backed vocally by a re-energized populist political class.
The irony? The more the EU attempts to suppress or penalize X, the more it seems to drive public interest, downloads, and international support for the very platform it seeks to rein in.