The Lawfare Podcast Lawfare Live: The EU Fines X 120 M Euros - What Comes Next?
Dec 5, 2025
Renee DiResta, a researcher focused on online information operations, joins the discussion with Kate Klonick about the EU's hefty fine on X (formerly Twitter) for misleading verification practices. They explore how X's paid verification enabled impersonation scams and the impacts of this on user trust. The duo also delves into the Digital Services Act's requirements, the political implications of tech regulation, and the challenges of enforcing compliance in an evolving digital landscape.
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DSA Is About Transparency, Not Censorship
- The Digital Services Act (DSA) is primarily a transparency and accountability law, not a broad censorship statute.
- Its key obligations include notice-and-action, ad transparency, researcher data access, and user appeal rights.
Three Specific Grounds For The Fine
- The EU fined X €120 million for three concrete DSA violations: misleading verification, deficient ad transparency, and blocking researcher access.
- None of those three violations relate to content takedown or political censorship claims.
Paid Verification Fueled Impersonation Scams
- Turning the blue check into paid verification enabled impersonation scams and monetized deception.
- This shift removed prior voluntary transparency that had helped researchers and civil society spot manipulation.