Ironic twist: The platform Brussels wanted to silence just became Europe's most-read news source.

For months, EU regulators threw everything at X—threats of hefty fines, censorship demands, layers of red tape. The official line? Cracking down on "disinformation." The subtext? Controlling narratives.

But here's what actually happened: User engagement surged. News consumption on X skyrocketed across European markets. Turns out, people gravitate toward platforms where information flows freely, not where bureaucrats curate the feed.

The clash highlights a bigger question for Web3 builders: Can decentralized infrastructure withstand regulatory pressure better than traditional platforms? X isn't fully decentralized, yet it's absorbing attacks that would've crushed smaller players.

Maybe the real battle isn't tech versus regulation. It's permission versus permissionlessness.