Back on Christmas Eve, the Trump administration announced it had sanctioned five European political figures, preventing them from entering the United States due to their involvement with the "global censorship-industrial complex."
The Trump administration said these individuals "advanced censorship crackdowns by foreign states—in each case targeting American speakers and American companies."
It's not the first time the Europeans and other Western nations have waged war on America and free speech. Elon Musk and X have been especially irksome, with the U.K., Canada, and Australia considering bans on the platform.
But absent an outright ban, the EU seems content to fine X for the most bizarre reasons, including Donald Duck.
Can’t make this up.
— House Judiciary GOP 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@JudiciaryGOP) January 28, 2026
The EU fined X €45 million after concluding people would think Donald Duck was a real person.
Give me a break. https://t.co/eehRZcDtCD
A verified blue checkmark, according to Grok, means "the account has an active subscription to X Premium (the paid tiers: Basic, Premium, or Premium+) and meets basic eligibility requirements" and those requirements are, typically, "a complete profile (display name and profile photo), an active account, a verified phone number, and no recent violations of X's rules."
It does not mean that the person behind the account is real.
But the EU has a very low opinion of European citizens, it seems.
The commission isn’t smart enough to be on the internet unsupervised.
— Savannah Insights 🎙️ (@BasedSavannah) January 29, 2026
They are not.
Do they think their citizens are ignorant? https://t.co/qaluPvHAWk
— LurkingRaven (@K82637391) January 29, 2026
Yes, they do.
And the EU's fining of X didn't stop there.
But the Commission didn’t stop there.
— House Judiciary GOP 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@JudiciaryGOP) January 28, 2026
It also fined X €40,000,000 for not giving enough data to pro-censorship pseudoscientists.
Once again, the Commission’s claims were ridiculous. pic.twitter.com/HI7WfPThCz
It's clear that the EU is going to try to bankrupt X if it failes to comply.
🚨@JudiciaryGOP subpoenaed Europe’s secret 183-page censorship order to X 🚨
— House Judiciary GOP 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@JudiciaryGOP) January 28, 2026
The @EU_Commission’s first ever fine under the Digital Services Act (DSA) was against @X and @elonmusk for €120 million—nearly 6% of its GLOBAL revenue—for defending free speech.
Now we know why:… pic.twitter.com/FdLUScvkdQ
Last month, the Commission issued a secret order fining X nearly $150 million—the first fine ever issued under the DSA.
— House Judiciary GOP 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@JudiciaryGOP) January 28, 2026
The Commission’s arguments are weak and a pretext for censorship.
The truth?
Europe is punishing X for allowing free and open debate in the modern town…
The European Left got very testy when Vice President Vance called them out for their anti-free speech stances. But the Vice President clearly struck a nerve, and the proof is in this report from the House Judiciary GOP