X Agrees to Overhaul Blue Checkmark System in EU After €120 Million DSA Fine

Elon Musk's social media platform X is set to revamp its verification system across the European Union after agreeing to submit remedies in response to a €120 million fine, Bloomberg News reported. The move comes after EU regulators determined that X's blue checkmark feature misled users and violated the bloc's landmark Digital Services Act (DSA).

European Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier confirmed that X had submitted proposed changes related to its blue checkmark verification feature. The Commission is now reviewing those proposals before determining next steps, though neither X nor the Commission issued an immediate statement in response to media inquiries.

The fine, issued in December, marked the first major enforcement action under the DSA — a sweeping piece of EU legislation designed to hold large online platforms accountable for managing illegal and harmful content. The regulation requires platforms operating in the EU to adopt stronger content moderation practices and maintain transparency with users.

At the heart of the dispute is how X redefined its blue checkmark after Musk completed his $44 billion acquisition of the platform, formerly known as Twitter, in 2022. The checkmark, which previously signified that a prominent public figure's identity had been independently verified, was repurposed to indicate a paid subscription rather than genuine identity verification. The European Commission charged in July 2024 that this change was deceptive and deviated from standard industry practices, effectively misleading millions of users about account authenticity.

The DSA investigation into X spanned two years before resulting in the historic fine, drawing sharp criticism from the U.S. government, which viewed the regulatory action as an overreach targeting American tech companies.

As regulators assess X's proposed remedies, the outcome could set a significant precedent for how social media platforms manage user verification and transparency under European digital law.