Justice Department files to support Musk's challenge to EU X fine

DOJ cites territorial jurisdiction as grounds for US intervention

The US Department of Justice filed its application Thursday with the EU’s General Court in support of Musk’s and X’s attempts to dismiss the case, according to BBC News. US Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate said the Commission had “inappropriately attempted” to expand its reach to American companies outside its control.

The DOJ invoked a provision of the Statute of the Court of Justice of the EU allowing a state to intervene in disputes before the court when it “can establish an interest in the result of the case to the court.” The department said the US “has a clear interest” in ensuring any Commission decision was applied consistently with “how territorial jurisdiction is generally understood in international law.” The filing also said the US wanted to avoid having the fine “otherwise prejudice” US-headquartered digital services that “contribute significantly” to its economy. The European Commission has been contacted for comment.

The €120 million fine was imposed in December 2025. The Commission said the platform “deceives users” by allowing people to pay for a blue verified check mark, because the badge is not “meaningfully verifying” who is behind the account. EU regulators additionally accused X of failing to provide transparency around its advertising and denying researchers access to public data.

Henna Virkkunen, the Commission’s executive vice-president for tech sovereignty, said at the time the fine was issued that the regulator was “holding X responsible for undermining users’ rights and evading accountability.” She added that “deceiving users with blue checkmarks, obscuring information on ads and shutting out researchers have no place online in the EU.”

The DOJ filing follows earlier criticism of the EU by senior US officials. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Federal Communications Commission had criticised the EU regulator, accusing it of attacking and censoring US firms. Rubio wrote in a post on X that “The European Commission’s fine isn’t just an attack on X, it’s an attack on all American tech platforms and the American people by foreign governments.” He added: “The days of censoring Americans online are over.” Musk reposted Rubio’s remarks with the comment “absolutely.”

The European Commission has denied targeting any specific nationality, stating it is protecting its digital and democratic standards to maintain its role as a global benchmark.

The December 2025 action was the Commission’s first official non-compliance decision under the Digital Services Act, one of two mandatory rulebooks governing online platforms in the EU. The EU is also conducting several other investigations into X, including one into the platform’s integrated AI assistant Grok over concerns it was used to create sexualised images of real people.

Musk, who spent millions helping elect Donald Trump and other Republicans, has previously claimed EU tech regulation “inhibits progress” for companies.