U.S. Files to Intervene With E.U. Decision on X, Elon Musk

By Katherine Hamilton

The U.S. has filed an application to intervene in the legal disputes between Elon Musk and the European Union.

The U.S. is supporting applications to annul a decision by the European Commission that found Elon Musk and his company X liable for violations of the E.U.'s Digital Services Act. The E.U. imposed a fine jointly and severally of 120 million euros, equal to about $136.5 million.

The Justice and State Departments coordinated to prepare the intervention application, citing the broad interest in protecting U.S. companies from "foreign extraterritorial enforcement action."

The DOJ said the U.S. has an interest in ensuring that the effect of any judgement concerning the European Commission's decision is consistent with how territorial jurisdiction is understood in international law.

In its December 2025 ruling, the European Commission found that X used deceptive practices with its use of a blue checkmark to signify verified accounts, when anyone could obtain the checkmark by paying.

It also cited a lack of transparency within X's advertisement repository and failure to provide public data to researchers.

The DOJ said it had concerns about how the commission approached determining who is the provider of digital services for the purposes of attributing liability under the Digital Services Act.

If the approach to the European Commission decision is upheld, it could have implications for large online platforms operating in the digital services sector within the E.U., the DOJ said.

Write to Katherine Hamilton at katherine.hamilton@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 24, 2026 16:40 ET (20:40 GMT)