By Destiny Obinna
The United States government has sought to support Elon Musk and his social media platform, X, in a legal challenge against a €120 million penalty imposed by the European Union over alleged violations of its digital regulations.
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) filed an application before the General Court of the Court of Justice of the European Union, seeking permission to join the case involving X and Musk.
The application seeks to challenge the European Commission’s decision of December 2025, which imposed the fine on the platform.
The development has added a new dimension to the dispute between US authorities and EU regulators over the regulation of American technology companies operating within the bloc.
Assistant Attorney General for the DOJ’s Civil Division, Brett Shumate, said the European Commission had gone beyond the limits of its regulatory authority.
He argued that the Commission was attempting to exercise control over American companies that, according to him, were not within its jurisdiction.
The European Commission imposed the fine after accusing X of breaching transparency requirements contained in the Digital Services Act (DSA).
Among the issues raised by the Commission were X’s blue verification system, its advertising repository and the level of access provided to researchers seeking public data from the platform.
The Commission also raised concerns that the design of the blue checkmark system could make it difficult for users to determine whether an account had been genuinely verified, potentially creating opportunities for impersonation and scams.
The US government said the case could have implications beyond X, particularly for American technology companies facing regulatory requirements in Europe.
The DOJ also questioned the basis for extending the regulatory dispute to Musk personally and other companies associated with him.
The case is expected to further test the extent to which EU digital regulations can be applied to major US technology companies operating in the European market.
