US Vice President JD Vance urged the European Union to support free speech rather than attack ‘American companies over garbage’ in a post on X on Thursday night. Vance was reacting to reports that the European Commission is planning to fine Elon Musk’s social-media platform before the end of 2025.
Rumours surfaced last week that the Commission is preparing to fine X two years after launching its first-ever probe under the Digital Services Act (DSA) in December 2023. While the broader investigation into alleged illegal content and information manipulation remains ongoing, any near-term penalty would focus on alleged violations identified in July 2024.
At that time, Brussels concluded that X’s paid blue-checkmark system deceived users, since anyone could purchase the verified badge. Although the platform later added a disclaimer, the Commission also accused X of failing to provide adequate transparency about advertising and of withholding public-interest data from researchers.
Commission’s tech chief Henna Virkkunen said recently that she expects ‘to conclude some of the investigations’ soon, though she did not confirm whether the X probe is among them. The scale of a potential fine also remains uncertain. The DSA allows penalties of up to 6 per cent of global annual revenues, and the Commission could base its calculation either on X’s turnover or on Musk’s broader business empire, including Tesla—a choice that would raise the magnitude of the fine to substantial levels. According to Forbes’ real-time billionaire tracker, Musk’s net worth reached $500 billion in October 2025.
According to media reports, Brussels would weigh the impact of the fine in connection with attempts to influence Washington’s plans to end the war in Ukraine. After US President Donald Trump presented his 28-point peace plan at the end of November—negotiated first with Russia and subsequently with Ukraine—EU leaders were excluded from the talks, raising concerns that Europe’s future security architecture will be decided without the continent having a say in the process.
Freedom of speech has become a major flashpoint between Washington and Brussels since the Trump administration took office at the beginning of 2025. In his Munich speech, JD Vance sharply criticized Western European countries, especially Germany and the United Kingdom, for restricting free speech and cracking down on right-wing voices on social media. The probe against X has been central to these tensions.
‘Imposing a fine on X could prompt further US retaliations under the emerging trade framework’
Meanwhile, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Trump have reached an agreement intended to settle trade issues between the EU and the US. The deal is widely viewed as humiliating for the European Union and a sell-out arrangement, with Brussels making commitments worth hundreds of billions of dollars to Washington in the areas of energy and defence, while the US maintains its 15 per cent tariffs on a significant share of EU exports. The agreement remains in framework form, with key elements still under negotiation.
Imposing a fine on X could prompt further US retaliations under the emerging trade framework. During a visit to Brussels at the end of November, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick openly criticized the bloc’s digital rulebook, calling for ‘old cases’ to be resolved as part of broader discussions on steel tariffs. He added that if the EU devises a regulatory framework that Washington considers ‘balanced’ and fair, the US would be willing to ‘handle the steel and aluminium issues’—meaning reconsider tariffs or trade restrictions. Lutnick also claimed that such a renegotiated framework could unlock substantial US investment in Europe.
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