X hit with new EU complaint over sensitive ad targeting
Musk’s platform is under pressure from both regulators and prosecutors.
It started with a few blue checkmarks and promises of “free speech.” Now, Elon Musk’s X (formally Twitter) is at the center of a growing legal storm across Europe.
This week, nine civil rights groups filed a formal complaint to the European Commission and France’s media watchdog, accusing X of violating the Digital Services Act (DSA), which bars large platforms from targeting users based on sensitive personal data like political views, religion, health conditions, or sexuality.
The evidence came from AI Forensics, which dug into X’s public Ad Repository, and found that major brands, including TotalEnergies and McDonald's, ran ad campaigns that excluded users based on political views, union affiliations, mental health terms, and other protected categories.
Ogbonda Chivumnovu
The ad complaint lands just as France is pursuing a separate criminal investigation into X’s algorithm, specifically whether it boosted far-right narratives during the recent EU elections. That probe could trigger penalties under France’s hacking laws, with fines up to €300,000 and even jail time if intent is proven.
Add that to the European Commision's 2023 probe into X's misleading features and transparency gaps, and you can't help but wonder if X might be the next Big Tech name to be hit with a major fine in the EU — following Apple’s €500 million and Meta’s €200 million DMA penalties earlier this year.
Musk may have envisioned X as the “everything app.” But right now, it’s starting to look more like a case study in what not to do when expanding in Europe, especially under the EU’s most aggressive tech laws to date.
Kelechi Edeh
