Last week, Elon Musk’s X launched a landmark legal challenge against a $140 million fine issued by the European Commission last December under the Digital Services Act, an EU censorship law. The case was filed at the General Court of the EU, which hears high-stakes challenges to EU regulatory and enforcement actions.
The commission claims the fine, the first to be issued under the DSA, was for alleged transparency and procedural breaches, all of which X denies. But the real reason the company was targeted is clear: X is a free speech platform, and Elon Musk refuses to implement online censorship in the EU and around the world.
This case, which ADF International is proud to support, concretizes the severe threat to free speech posed by the DSA. The EU law, which came into force in 2024, requires “very large online platforms,” like X, Meta, and Google (platforms with more than 45 million users per month), which operate or are accessible in the EU, to remove so-called “illegal content.”
“Illegal content” is defined in line with a plethora of anti-free speech legislation across EU countries, such as in Germany, where it is illegal to insult a politician (Section 188 German Criminal Code). The legislation additionally requires platforms to “mitigate” so-called “systemic risks,” such as “negative effects” on “civic discourse,” “electoral processes,” and “gender-based violence.”
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