X blocked by European Commission advertising account after €120m fine
By ForGeeks
The European Commission fined X €120 million for violating the DSA, after which the social network disabled her advertising account, claiming abuse of the ad format in a post on the fine.
On Friday, the European Commission announced a €120 million (about $140 million) fine for violating the requirements of the Digital Services Act. This is the first time the DSA has been sanctioned. In response, X owner Ilon Musk wrote “Bullshit” under the Commission’s official post. The next day, X’s head of product Nikita Bier accused the Commission of using an “exploit” to increase the reach of the fine publication and blocked its advertising account.
The Commission’s decision to use the “exploit” to increase the reach of the fine publication has been made by the Commission.
Beer says the Commission has not accessed its advertising account since 2021, but posted the fine notice in a format designed solely for promotional material. He claims the Commission published “a link masquerading as a video to artificially increase reach.” The publication did indeed include a video.
Impact of blocking and further requirements for X
In X’s estimation, blocking the advertising account seems retaliatory, but it hardly affects the parties’ positions. If the Commission’s account hasn’t been used for almost three years, restricting it doesn’t give X much leverage. That said, the company remains obligated to pay a fine and also to provide a plan to correct the “deceptive” use of verified badges within 60 days. Failure to do so will result in new sanctions.
The European Commission has not yet commented on the situation. The editorial staff has sent an inquiry and will update the story after receiving a response.
