Elon Musk's X may get $1B EU fine for false posts and bad content

Photo : AFP

Elon Musk’s app X (before called Twitter) may have to pay a very big money fine in Europe. The people in charge of internet rules in Europe said that X did not follow the new online law. This law is called the Digital Services Act. It tells big apps to stop bad things like fake news, dangerous posts, and wrong stories from spreading.

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The fine might be more than $1 billion, and may be shared in the summer. This fine could be the biggest ever for a company not following internet safety rules.

X is different from other tech companies like Google and Apple. Those companies have many owners. But X is only owned by Elon Musk, so this case is more tricky.

The rule-makers are also thinking about using Elon Musk’s other companies’ money (like SpaceX) to decide how much fine to ask. If they do that, the fine may become even bigger.

But the story is not just about money. Europe may also tell X to change how it works. That means they might ask X to be more open about ads, clean bad content faster, and keep users safe.

X does not agree. They wrote a strong message online and said, “This is not fair. You are trying to stop free speech.” X said they are following the rules and will do all they can to protect the app and its users.

Right now, there are problems between Europe and America about how to control big tech apps. Some people say Europe is being softer with companies like Meta and Apple, but harder on Elon Musk’s X.

The people in Europe have been checking X since late last year. They want to know if X is doing enough to stop wrong posts, bad pictures, lies, and confusing tricks. They also looked at a tool called Community Notes that lets users fix wrong posts. They want to know if this tool really helps, especially in hard topics like the war between Israel and Palestine.

Earlier, Europe already said that X broke the rules. This year, they asked X to share more info, like how X shows posts, how ads are picked, and how the app is built. They want to understand how content moves around on X and if the app is doing its job to keep people safe.

But this is not the only trouble X is facing. In India, X is also having a big fight with the government. X told the court that the Indian government is removing posts without using the correct steps.

The government asked X to join a website called Sahyog, which helps remove posts quickly. X said no and called it a "Censorship Portal", which they said is not legal. The Indian government didn’t like this and answered back.

At the same time, Elon Musk’s other companies want to start work in India. Tesla wants to sell electric cars. SpaceX wants to bring Starlink internet to people in villages, with help from Jio and Airtel. But these fights with the government may make that harder.