The European Commission on April 10 announced a second enforcement wave under the Digital Services Act, opening formal proceedings against X and expanding existing investigations into TikTok. The announcement came from Commissioner Virkkunen in Brussels and marks the most aggressive regulatory push against US-based platforms since the DSA took full effect in February 2024.
The proceedings against X focus on three specific areas. Regulators allege that the platform failed to provide researchers with the data access the law requires, that its algorithmic recommendation systems amplify coordinated inauthentic behavior during election periods, and that its ad repository contains significant gaps that prevent public audit. The Commission has given X twenty working days to respond before formal charges can be drafted. Penalties under the DSA can reach six percent of global annual revenue.
TikTok faces a separate expansion of an existing probe. The original investigation, opened in February 2024, centered on minor protection and addictive design. The new scope adds the platform's Live feature and its coin-tip economy, which researchers have linked to underage monetization and labor concerns in several European markets. The Commission cited a joint complaint filed by consumer protection authorities in France, Germany, Ireland, and the Netherlands earlier this year.
Virkkunen said the second wave reflects what she called a shift from "cooperation phase" to "enforcement phase." She noted that major platforms had two years to align with the DSA and that the Commission no longer considers good faith negotiations a sufficient response to documented violations. Meta, Google, and Amazon were not named in the Thursday announcement but remain under ongoing review.
Industry groups pushed back immediately. CCIA Europe, which represents several of the platforms named, said the Commission was applying vague standards inconsistently and warned that enforcement actions of this size could discourage future investment in European operations. The group also questioned whether the DSA's data access requirements conflict with GDPR privacy rules, a tension the Commission acknowledges but says can be resolved through technical safeguards.
US officials have not issued a formal response as of Friday afternoon, but the timing is notable. The announcement arrived two days after the Trump administration released its updated trade priorities paper, which listed European digital regulation as a barrier to American commerce. Trade Representative Greer had flagged the DSA and the related Digital Markets Act as areas where Washington would seek negotiation or, failing that, retaliatory measures.
For users, the practical effect will be slow. DSA enforcement actions typically take eight to fourteen months from the opening of proceedings to any binding decision. During that window, platforms can contest findings, submit remediation plans, or negotiate behavioral commitments that settle the case before penalties are imposed. The 2024 TikTok Lite rollback in France is the clearest example of how quickly a platform can change course when the Commission signals a red line.
The broader context matters for anyone watching the platform economy. European regulators have become the effective global rule-setters for large online services, not because they lead on adoption but because their enforcement actions force companies to rebuild systems that then apply worldwide. A TikTok change in how minors interact with the coin system in Germany rarely stays inside Germany. The same is true for any algorithmic transparency standard X is eventually required to adopt.
Civil society groups welcomed the announcement but said the pace was still too slow. European Digital Rights called the action overdue and pointed to platform behavior during the 2024 European Parliament elections as the kind of case the DSA was written to prevent. The group also criticized the Commission for not naming Meta in the Thursday package, citing what it described as open questions about ad targeting and election integrity on Instagram and Facebook.
Platforms affected by the new enforcement round have 20 working days to respond. Formal charges, if they come, are expected in late summer. Any financial penalty would then face court review. Brussels has signaled it is prepared for that fight.