On December 5, EU regulators imposed a €120 million penalty on X for issues with its blue checkmark system, ad transparency, and researcher data access under the Digital Services Act. Musk responded on December 6 by urging the EU's abolition to restore sovereignty to individual countries, sharing memes that contrasted vibrant Europe with a bloated bureaucracy. Amid debates over the EU's democratic deficit, X surged to the top news app in every EU country, with Musk noting the irony of the fine boosting its reach.
