Digital Services Act (DSA)
Why in news?
The European Union imposed a €120 million (approximately $140 million) fine on X (formerly Twitter) on December 5, 2025, marking the first non-compliance decision under the Digital Services Act (DSA) for breaching transparency obligations.​
Key Violations
- X violated DSA rules through three main issues. First, its 'blue checkmark' system deceives users by allowing paid verification without meaningful checks on account authenticity, enabling scams and impersonation.
- Second, the advertising repository lacks transparency, with access barriers like delays and missing details on ad content, payers, and topics, hindering detection of fake ads or influence operations.
- Third, X imposed unnecessary barriers on researchers' access to public data, including scraping bans in terms of of service, impeding systemic risk studies.​
About Digital Services Act (DSA)
- The DSA, effective since 2024, mandates platforms to combat deceptive designs, ensure ad transparency (Articles 39, 40), and facilitate researcher data access (Article 25) to protect users from harms like disinformation.
- This enforcement highlights EU's tech sovereignty push, contrasting US free speech emphases, with potential transatlantic tensions amid criticisms from Elon Musk, Donald Trump, and US officials.​​
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