Social media platform X has terminated the European Commission’s advertising account, escalating tensions just days after the European Union regulator fined the company €120 million (£105 million).
The dispute centers on a post made by the Commission announcing the penalty, which was issued under the Digital Services Act (DSA). The fine—the first of its kind under the new legislation—punished X for its “deceptive” blue checkmark system, lack of advertising transparency, and failure to provide public data access to researchers.
Nikita Bier, X’s Head of Product, stated that the Commission’s account was banned for exploiting a technical vulnerability in the platform’s advertising system. According to Bier, the Commission reactivated a “dormant” advertising account—which had not run an advertisement since 2021—to access an older version of the “Ad Composer” tool.
Bier alleged that the Commission used this tool to format a link to their press release so that it appeared as a video in users’ timelines. He claimed this was done “to deceive users into thinking it’s a video and to artificially increase its reach”.
“You logged into your dormant ad account to take advantage of an exploit in our Ad Composer,” Bier wrote, calling the move ironic. “It seems you believe that the rules should not apply to your account. Your ad account has been terminated.”
Bier added that the exploit had “never been abused like this” and has since been patched. X’s own AI chatbot, Grok, analysed the situation and suggested it was unlikely EU officials maintained the account specifically for this purpose, but rather used it opportunistically.
A spokesperson for the European Commission rejected the accusation of misconduct. Speaking to the BBC, the Commission stated it “always uses all social media platforms in good faith”.
“We are simply using the tools that platforms themselves are making available to our corporate accounts,” the spokesperson said. “We expect these tools to be fully in line with the platforms’ own terms and conditions, as well as with our legislative framework.”
The technical dispute has triggered a broader political confrontation. Following the announcement of the fine, X owner Elon Musk posted that the EU “should be abolished” and retweeted a user comparing the regulator’s actions to fascism.
US officials have also intervened in defence of the American company. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) accused the EU of censoring US firms. Rubio stated that “the days of censoring Americans online are over”.
The fine itself addressed specific operational concerns. The EU regulator described X’s blue tick system as “deceptive” because it does not meaningfully verify users, thereby exposing the public to scams and impersonation. The Commission has given X 60 working days to explain how it will reform its verification practices and 90 days to address concerns regarding advertising transparency and researcher access.
Failure to comply could result in further penalties.