X’s surge to become the top news app in 12 new European countries has defied regulatory headwinds, with the platform now leading downloads in Austria, Belgium, Portugal, Estonia, Slovakia, Malta, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, Croatia, Bulgaria, and Slovenia as of December 6, 2025.
The milestone, announced by X CEO Linda Yaccarino during a virtual fireside chat with EU tech correspondents, underscores how the former Twitter has transformed into a real-time information powerhouse, even as Brussels’ Digital Services Act fines loom large.
The expansion caps a remarkable year for X, where app store analytics from Sensor Tower show it overtaking traditional news aggregators like Flipboard and Apple News in these markets by a margin of 18 percent on average. In Portugal, for instance, X’s daily active users for news consumption jumped 42 per cent since July, fuelled by live coverage of the Azores wildfires and Lisbon’s municipal elections.
Belgian users, meanwhile, flocked to the platform during the Flemish government’s coalition talks, with threads on economic reforms garnering over 500,000 interactions in a single week. “Europeans want unfiltered, instant updates,” Yaccarino stated. “X delivers that, without the gatekeepers.”
This X tops news app in 12 EU countries achievement arrives amid fierce scrutiny from the European Commission, which in August slapped X with an €800 million penalty for alleged failures in content moderation under the DSA. Critics, including EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders, accused the platform of amplifying disinformation during France’s snap elections and Germany’s AfD surge.
Yet data tells a different story: X’s European monthly active users hit 45 million in November, up 12 per cent year-over-year, with news-related sessions comprising 62 per cent of total engagement. The irony? The backlash appears to have boosted visibility, as coverage of the fines drove a 25 per cent spike in app installs across the bloc.
Beyond the headlines, X’s appeal lies in its algorithm tweaks prioritising verified journalists and eyewitness videos. In Estonia, where cyber threats dominate discourse, the platform’s Community Notes feature fact-checked over 3,000 posts on Russian hybrid warfare in the past quarter alone, earning praise from Tallinn’s foreign ministry.
Croatian football fans turned to X for blow-by-blow updates on Dinamo Zagreb’s Europa League run, while Bulgarian entrepreneurs used it to crowdsource funding amid Sofia’s startup boom. These grassroots stories highlight why smaller nations, often overlooked by legacy media, are embracing X as their digital town square.
Globally, X’s momentum shows no signs of slowing. As of late 2025, the platform boasts over 550 million monthly active users worldwide, with the United States leading at 103.96 million, followed closely by Japan at 70.92 million.
Indonesia ranks third with 25.16 million, edging out India’s 24.09 million in a tight race driven by Bollywood buzz and cricket fever. The United Kingdom holds fifth at 22.87 million, where X’s role in breaking Westminster scandals remains unmatched.
To illustrate the breadth of X’s footprint, consider this ranking of the top 20 countries by user numbers:
| Rank | Country | Users (Millions) |
|——|———|——————|
| 1 | United States | 103.96M |
| 2 | Japan | 70.92M |
| 3 | Indonesia | 25.16M |
| 4 | India | 24.09M |
| 5 | United Kingdom | 22.87M |
| 6 | Germany | 21.63M |
| 7 | Turkey | 19.73M |
| 8 | Mexico | 16.86M |
| 9 | Brazil | 15.96 M |
| 10 | Saudi Arabia | 15.67M |
| 11 | France | 15.52M |
| 12 | Thailand | 13.4M |
| 13 | Singapore | 13.23M |
| 14 | Canada | 10.66M |
| 15 | Spain | 10.4 M |
| 16 | South Korea | 10.04M |
| 17 | Hong Kong | 9.44M |
| 18 | Philippines | 9.29M |
| 19 | Netherlands | 9.19M |
| 20 | Nigeria | 7.57M |
This table, drawn from DataReportal’s February 2025 audit and updated with mid-year projections, reveals X’s skew toward urban, mobile-first demographics. North America and East Asia account for 40 percent of users, but emerging markets like Nigeria, where X fuels youth activism on climate and governance, are closing the gap rapidly.
Elon Musk, X’s owner, hailed the EU gains in a midday post: “Regulation tried to clip our wings; users gave us jet fuel.” His words resonated in Slovenia, where X overtook Reuters apps after a heated debate on Balkan border policies. Yet challenges persist.
Advertiser pullouts following Musk’s free-speech pivot cost X €200 million in Q3 revenue, and DSA compliance audits continue into 2026. Privacy advocates in Luxembourg decry data-sharing lapses, while Maltese journalists leverage X’s long-form posts to expose Valletta’s golden visa scandals.
For brands and creators, the shift signals opportunity. Nike’s EU campaigns saw 30 per cent higher engagement on X versus Instagram, per Kantar data, thanks to threaded storytelling on athlete stories. News outlets like Der Spiegel in Germany now embed X feeds directly, blurring lines between platform and publisher.
As 2025 closes, X’s ascent as the go-to news app in these 12 EU nations proves resilience in the face of adversity. What began as a microblogging experiment has evolved into a global pulse-checker, where a farmer in Latvia can debate EU farm subsidies alongside a tech exec in Tallinn.
In an era of echo chambers, X’s chaotic feed fosters unlikely connections, reminding regulators that user choice often trumps bureaucratic fiat. With Asia’s user base projected to swell another 15 per cent next year, the platform’s story is far from over-it’s just getting louder.
