X shuts down the European Commission’s ad account the day after major fine

Just one day after receiving a fine of around $140 million, X closed the European Commission’s advertising account. Nikita Bier, product manager of X, accused the European Commission of using an exploit to artificially increase the reach of its message announcing the significant fine.

In his message, Bier said the commission “connected to [their] dormant ad account to take advantage of an exploit in our Ad Composer” and posted “a link that tricks users into thinking it is a video and artificially increases its reach.” Bier explained in a separate post that the exploit was “never used in this way” and “is now fixed.” However, X has still revoked the European Commission’s ability to purchase and track ads on its platform.

Even though X has decided to remove the European Commission’s advertising account, it still needs to submit specific measures and an action plan to address concerns related to the $140 million fine. European Commission spokesman for technological sovereignty, defence, space and research Thomas Regnier said it was the first fine ever imposed under the Digital Services Act. The EU legislature claimed that In response, X owner Elon Musk responded to the European Commission’s post, calling it “bullshit.”