X Terminates EC Ad Account After €120M Fine, Citing 'Exploit'

• X terminated the European Commission's ad account following a €120 million fine from the EC.
• The EC's fine, its first under the Digital Services Act (DSA), cited X's "deceptive" blue checkmark system and ad transparency failures.
• X's Head of Product, Nikita Bier, stated the EC's ad account was terminated for exploiting an ad system vulnerability, not in retaliation for the fine.
• Elon Musk reacted to the fine by calling it "bullshit" and advocating to "AbolishTheEU."
• The European Commission denied exploiting X's ad system, stating they use platform tools in good faith and suspended paid advertising on X in October 2023.

Why It Matters: X's retaliation against EU fines impacts digital regulation and platform accountability.