The Trump administration has formally backed Elon Musk's legal challenge to a €120 million EU fine against X, according to WIRED. The US Department of Justice, with the State Department's help, filed an application to intervene in the case at the EU General Court in Luxembourg. The court will now decide whether the US has a right to join the appeal.
The fine is the first penalty imposed under the EU's Digital Services Act, which requires large platforms to police illegal and harmful content. The European Commission found X breached transparency rules by labeling paid blue checks as "verified," and by failing to give researchers adequate access to public data. X and Musk appealed in February, calling the investigation "incomplete and superficial" and alleging prosecutorial bias.
The US intervention escalates a broader dispute over digital regulation. Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate said the administration "will not tolerate" European Commission "regulatory overreach" against American companies. President Trump has called such penalties "overseas extortion," and Vice President JD Vance has criticized the DSA's content moderation rules as "authoritarian censorship." The Justice Department warned the case has implications for US-EU relations.