Payback from Musk: X terminates the EU’s account due to misleading practices
Social messaging platform X has terminated the EU’s Ad Composer account because Brussels allegedly misused an exploit in the company’s Ad Composer.
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Social messaging platform X has terminated the EU’s Ad Composer account because Brussels allegedly misused an exploit in the company’s Ad Composer.
According to Nikita Bier, Head of Product at X, the European Commission is guilty of exploiting a bug in the social network’s Ad Composer.
Because of this bug, the executive branch of the EU is able to publish posts containing a link that appears to be a video to users. This way, the European Commission can deceive users to artificially increase its reach.
“As you may be aware, X believes everyone should have an equal voice on our platform. However, it seems you believe that the rules should not apply to your account. Your ad account has been terminated,” Bier says in a comment on X.
The irony of your announcement:
undefined Nikita Bier (@nikitabier) December 6, 2025
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
The decision follows the European Commission’s decision to impose a €120 million fine on X last Thursday. According to the Commission, X is guilty of breaching transparency rules under the Digital Services Act (DSA).
The EU’s executive branch argued that anyone can obtain a “verified” status without X meaningfully verifying who is behind the account, exposing users to scammers, impersonation, and other forms of online fraud. The blue checkmark was turned into a paid feature shortly after Elon Musk acquired the company formerly known as Twitter back in 2022.
Furthermore, the fine includes X’s lack of transparency in its advertising repository. Lastly, X doesn’t provide effective data access for researchers.
“Today’s decision has nothing to do with content moderation. It’s about transparency, provisions for citizens here in the European Union,” a spokesperson for the European Commission said last week.
X’s decision to terminate the European Commission’s account may come as a coincidence, but some argue this is X taking retaliatory action against the EU.
The Trump Administration has criticized the DSA and the Digital Markets Act (DMA) for discriminating against American tech companies, such as Google, Amazon, Meta, and X.
“These severe fines appear to have two goals: to compel businesses to follow European standards worldwide and as a European tax on American companies,” President Trump said earlier this year.
“Rumors swirling that the EU commission will fine X hundreds of millions of dollars for not engaging in censorship. The EU should be supporting free speech, not attacking American companies over garbage,” Vice President JD Vance recently added, fueling the ongoing debate.
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