US Justice Department moves to back Musk's X in EU fine fight
The Trump administration asks the EU's General Court to annul Brussels' €120 million Digital Services Act fine against X.
What to know
- The US filed to intervene in support of X and Musk's bid to annul the EU's first Digital Services Act fine, a €120 million penalty from December 2025.
- DOJ argues the EU improperly extended jurisdiction to reach American companies and pierced the corporate veil to target Musk personally.
- This is the first case challenging a DSA enforcement action to reach the EU's General Court, and the first US government intervention in such a case.
- The move extends the Trump administration's broader criticism of EU tech regulation as unfairly targeting US companies.
“We will not tolerate the European Commission engaging in regulatory overreach to try and control American engines of innovation and economic growth.”
Brett Shumate, Assistant Attorney General, DOJ Civil Division · US Department of Justice press release ↗ · Sep 23
Elon Musk Owner of XBrett Shumate Assistant Attorney General, DOJ Civil Division
Donald Trump US President
European Commission EU executive body that issued the DSA fine
How it unfolded 3 developments, newest first · click a bar or a number to jump articlespostscomments
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Coverage frames move within Trump administration's broader EU tech fight
Reports note the intervention fits a pattern of the Trump administration criticizing Europe's Big Tech crackdown as targeting American companies, while the European Commission maintains its laws are nationality-neutral and defend digital and democratic standards.
“the “corporate veil” principle, which is fundamental to the U.S. economic and legal system … provides that there is, in general, no entitlement to look behind the corporate structure in order to take action against shareholders…”
— US Department of Justice, US government filing · source -
first by Seeking Alpha, 1d ago · also ITVX, Anadolu Agency, RTE News, France 24 EN, France 24, CP24 +11
8 more headlines
- EU vows to defend fine against X as US backs court challenge from Musk ITVX · 1d ago
- US seeks to back Musk, X in court challenge to EU fine Anadolu Agency · 1d ago
- EU 'ready to defend' €120m fine against Musk's X RTE News · 1d ago
- EU vows to pursue €120 million fine on X after US backs Musk's court challenge Mastodon · 1d ago
- EU vows to defend its stand against X after the U.S. backs a court challenge from Elon Musk CP24 · 1d ago
- U.S. Intercedes for Elon Musk’s X Over European Fine nytimes.com · 1d ago
- EU vows to defend its stand against X after the US backs a court challenge from Elon Musk Mercury News · 22h ago
- US backs Elon Musk's bid to overturn €120m EU fine against X Mastodon · 3m ago
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first by CNBC, 1d ago · also FT, Reuters, Straits Times, Channel News Asia, Jerusalem Post
3 more headlines
- US intervenes in Elon Musk’s legal challenge to EU fine against X Financial Times · 1d ago
- US government seeks to join Elon Musk in challenge against EU's fine on X Reuters · 1d ago
- US intervenes to stop $136 million fine imposed by EU on X social media, Elon Musk's companies Jerusalem Post · 1d ago
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The US backs Elon Musk in fight to overturn €120M EU fine. Trump officials filed a motion to support X’s appeal, arguing the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) enforcement overreached when levying the fine last December, and unfairly targets American tech platforms while threatening digital free speech and global market operations. “The European…
2 more of the top 3 · 17 posts in this stretch
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The dispute resolution body, Impress Dispute Resolutions (IDR), is an Irish-registered company and was given certification for five years. IDR’s remit is resolution of disputes relating to some categories of illegal content published on social-media platforms and content-sharing sites. According to IDR, this includes disputes relating to hate…
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The #US government is seeking to join Elon Musk's legal challenge to overturn a €120m (£105m) #EU fine against #X over its #BlueTick badges.
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DOJ filing details corporate-veil and jurisdiction arguments
The Justice Department's filing says the Commission's approach to attributing DSA liability improperly pierced the corporate veil, extending scrutiny to Musk personally and unrelated companies he owns, and raises concerns about extraterritorial jurisdiction consistent with international law.
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The US government wants to help Elon Musk in his legal appeal of the EU-imposed €120 million fine against his social media platform formerly known as Twitter. https://www. justice.gov/opa/pr/united-stat es-files-request-intervene-case-brought-x-corp-and-elon-musk-seeking-annul
1 more of the top 2 · 2 posts in this stretch
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United States Department of Justice is asking to intervene, on behalf of Musk, on the European Commission's enforcement of its Digital Services Act on the X platform. —
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DOJ files application to intervene in X's EU court case
The U.S. Justice Department filed a request with the EU's General Court in Luxembourg to intervene in support of X Internet/X Holdings v. Commission and Musk v. Commission, seeking annulment of the December 2025 fine.
“The European Commission inappropriately attempted to expand its regulatory authority to reach American companies not present or operating within its jurisdiction.”
— Brett Shumate, Assistant Attorney General -
first by Bloomberg, 2d ago · also Bloomberg Politics
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background
EU Commission fines X €120 million under the DSA — EU tech regulators sanctioned X for breaching online content rules following a two-year investigation, the first fine issued under the Digital Services Act.
Also covered reported alongside — the timeline has no entry for these yet
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first by Quartz, 1d ago · also UPI, Globe and Mail, CBC
3 more headlines
- Justice Department fight by Elon Musk's X to overturn $137M EU fine UPI · 1d ago
- Trump administration to join Elon Musk in challenging EU’s fine on X The Globe and Mail · 1d ago
- Justice Department under Trump asks EU to scrap $137M US fine for Elon Musk's X CBC · 1d ago
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first by The Economic Times, 1d ago · also Associated Press
1 more headline
- EU vows to defend its fine against X after the US backs a court challenge from Elon Musk Associated Press · 1d ago
and 5 smaller pieces
What people are saying 12 voices from 2 sites · best of 19 · verbatim
- Yesterday
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TL;DR: The Trump administration supports Elon Musk in challenging a €120 million fine imposed by the EU under the Digital Services Act, arguing that Brussels overstepped its authority. https:// arstechnica.com/tech-policy/20 26/09/trump-administration-takes-musks-side-in-fight-over-eu-tech-rules/ # law # tech # legaltech ⚖️ 🤖 # autosum
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The EU vows to defend its stand against X after the U.S. backs a court challenge from Elon Musk. @ AssociatedPress reports: https:// flip.it/ZKZb1_ # ElonMusk # SocialMedia # Technology
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You are the one who doesn't make sense. You are allowed to import only those goods and services that are complying with the laws there. EU allows X to export it's service here, but requires X to follow the law, X didn't, so the lawsuit.
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In a country with no legal framework to have EU consumer law enforced? I'd have a good laugh.
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Get the most important and interesting news from the global economy delivered to your inbox. https:// qz.com/us-justice-department-x -musk-eu-fine-dsa-092526?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub Posted into Business News @ business-news-quartz
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US clashes with EU over $136 million fine imposed on Elon Musk’s X platform The United States challenged the €120 million ($136.51 million) fine the European Union imposed on Elon Musk’s X… # UnitedStates # US # USA # DonaldTrump # ElonMusk # EuropeanUnion # Musk # socialmedia # X
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Because being backed by the US Government right now is definitely an indicator that you're absolutely on the right side of history... US backs Elon Musk's bid to overturn €120m EU fine against X - BBC News https://www. bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cq0m37 3ee0v0o?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub
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Sunk cost fallacy, market capture and a lot of public figures\organization having used it for decades not finding an altenate place mostly, social media pretty much live by that, once a critical mass is reached people won't move to some other site that is slightly similar. Musk and people like him know that. We should not allow individual…
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It wasn't just those who explicitly voted for him. All those who chose not to vote were also effectively voting for him too. They're all responsible.
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https://www. europesays.com/us/1083263/ U.S. government seeks to join Musk in challenge against EU’s fine on X # Business # BusinessNews # CourtDecisions # DonaldTrump # ElonMusk # GovernmentAndPolitics # SocialMedia # UnitedStates # UnitedStates # US # USDollar /AustralianDollarFXCrossRate
- Sep 24
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The US is seeking to join a legal challenge filed by SpaceXAI Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk seeking to dismiss a €120 million ($136.5 million) European Union fine for breaches of online rules by his social media platform X. https://www. bloomberg.com/news/articles/20 26-09-24/us-seeks-to-join-musk-in-court-fight-with-eu-over-x-fine # Ukraine #…
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TL;DR: U.S. federal officials are seeking to intervene in a case against Elon Musk's X, which faces a $140 million fine for allegedly permitting deceptive behavior on its platform. https://www. nytimes.com/2026/09/24/technol ogy/us-x-elon-musk-europe-fine.html # law # tech # legaltech ⚖️ 🤖 # autosum