U.S. DOJ Intervenes in Elon Musk's Fight Against EU Tech Fine

The U.S. Department of Justice has filed an application to intervene in a legal challenge brought by Elon Musk and his social media platform, X, seeking to annul a €120 million fine imposed by the European Union. According to reporting from Ars Technica and Wired, the DOJ worked with the Department of State to request entry into the cases currently before the EU’s General Court in Luxembourg.

The European Commission issued the penalty in December after finding that X breached transparency obligations under the Digital Services Act (DSA). Specifically, the Commission cited the deceptive design of X’s blue-tick verification system, as well as failures to provide public data for researchers and an incomplete advertising repository, as reported by Wired.

Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate stated that the European Commission inappropriately attempted to expand its authority to reach American companies not operating within its jurisdiction, adding that the U.S. will not tolerate regulatory overreach targeting "American engines of innovation and economic growth," per Ars Technica.

The DOJ further argued that the Commission improperly calculated the fine based on the global annual revenue of other companies controlled by Musk, rather than X’s specific earnings. Ars Technica notes that X was merged with Musk’s AI company, xAI, in March 2025, and subsequently acquired by SpaceX.

President Donald Trump has characterized the EU penalties as "overseas extortion" and a "form of taxation," while Vice President JD Vance has described the DSA’s content moderation rules as "authoritarian censorship," according to Wired. The U.S. government contends that the case has broader implications for U.S.-EU relations, as many large platforms governed by the DSA’s rules—including Microsoft’s LinkedIn, Google’s YouTube, and Meta’s Facebook and Instagram—are headquartered in the U.S., Wired reports.