Friday's fine applies to three different areas where the European Commission believes the internet giant does not meet the conditions of EU law.
It's about a lack of transparency in advertisements, researchers not being given access to data, and misleading design around the "blue tick", which in practice is for paying customers.
“We hold X responsible for undermining users’ rights and evading responsibility,” said Digital Commissioner Henna Virkkunen in a press release .
Despite the billions in Swedish kronor, the fine is relatively small – a total of 120 million euros.
"We are not in principle looking for fines, but we are of course interested in compliance with the rules. The fine must be reasonable in relation to the violation," one of the officials who worked on the case stated at a briefing for journalists.
The investigation into X has been ongoing since December 2023 and was expected to be completed much earlier. This has led to speculation that the European Commission would refrain from cracking down on X, due to the harsh criticism that both X owner Elon Musk and US President Donald Trump have directed at the EU's various data laws.
