Foreign Minister Rubio: Reaction to the EU's X Penalty Decision

U.S. Secretary of State Rubio's Strong Reaction

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio made a strong statement regarding the European Union's (EU) imposition of a 120 million euro fine on the X social media platform.

Interference with Online Free Speech

Rubio described this fine as “interference by foreign governments in the online free speech of American citizens” in a post on his X account.

Harmful to the American Tech Sector

Rubio emphasized that such penalty practices are not only aimed at one company but will also have negative effects on the American tech sector and the public. He stated, “The days of censoring Americans online are over.”

Reason for X's Fine

The EU announced today that it imposed this fine because X did not adequately fulfill its obligations under the Digital Services Act. The announcement mentioned that factors such as misleading elements in the blue checkmark design, lack of transparency in the advertising pool, and failure to provide researchers access to publicly available data led to the fine.