X suspends European Commission ad account following €120 million DSA fine

New Delhi: X has deactivated the European Commission’s advertising account following the EU body’s €120 million ($140 million) fine under the Digital Services Act (DSA), according to the news report.

The European Commission issued the fine after describing X’s paid verification system, including blue checkmarks, as “deceptive” and raising concerns that it made users vulnerable to impersonation and scams.

The commission also said X’s advertising repository did not meet the DSA’s transparency and accessibility requirements. X’s Head of Product, Nikita Bier, said the action was taken in response to the commission’s use of X’s advertising system.

Quoting the commission’s post announcing the fine, Bier said the EC had logged into a “dormant ad account to take advantage of an exploit in our Ad Composer to post a link that deceives users into thinking it’s a video and to artificially increase its reach.”

The irony of your announcement:

You logged into your dormant ad account to take advantage of an exploit in our Ad Composer — to post a link that deceives users into thinking it’s a video and to artificially increase its reach.

As you may be aware, X believes everyone should… https://t.co/ziuhUOimOT

— Nikita Bier (@nikitabier) December 6, 2025

“As you may be aware, X believes everyone should have an equal voice on our platform,” Bier wrote. 

“However, it seems you believe that the rules should not apply to your account.” He confirmed that the commission’s ad account had been “terminated” and added that the exploit “has never been abused like this” and has since been patched.

As per news reports, a European Commission spokesperson said the commission uses social media platforms in good faith and had employed the tools provided to its corporate accounts, including X’s Post Composer. The commission also noted that it suspended paid advertising on X in October 2023, and that suspension remains in place.