Elon Musk’s social media platform X has been hit with a 140 million dollar fine by the European Union for violating its strict content-moderation rules .

According to Bloomberg’s report, the European Commission revealed the company misled users with its paid blue-check verification program, blocked researchers from accessing platform data, and failed to create a publicly accessible database of political ads.

Regulators announced the penalty saying X must propose fixes within 60 days and put them in place within 90 days or face even heavier fines.

EU officials reveal the penalty was not calculated based on Musk’s enormous business portfolio, which includes SpaceX, Tesla, and infrastructure projects. Instead, the fine focused narrowly on violations of Europe’s Digital Services Act, the sweeping law aimed at making tech companies more accountable for the content they host.

While the 140 million fine dollar is a tiny amount compared with Musk’s estimated 467 billion dollar fortune, it carries symbolic weight.

The timing adds political heat in the U.S. Former President Donald Trump and many of his allies have long accused the EU of unfairly targeting American tech firms.

“The EU should be supporting free speech, not attacking American companies over garbage.”, Vice President JD Vance posted on X, Bloomberg reported.

The EU investigation began in late 2023, but it gained new significance after Musk backed Trump’s campaign and briefly served as an adviser in the early months of Trump’s current term leading the so-called Department of Government Efficiency.