The European Union has long been a source of both classical liberal ideas and expansive government regulation. Today, the EU is increasingly exporting its regulatory model beyond its borders—including policies that threaten free speech online.
In a new column in RealClearMarkets, Market Institute Senior Fellow Norm Singleton examines how the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA) pressures American technology companies to censor speech and how U.S. policymakers are beginning to push back.
As Singleton explains, the DSA imposes sweeping obligations on major online platforms to police speech deemed “information manipulation” or “hate speech,” categories that can easily be expanded to silence political viewpoints.
“The European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA) is an assault on online speech. The DSA requires ‘Very Large Online Platforms’ (VLOPs) to block posts containing ‘information manipulation.’ This is defined as material ‘inconsistent with European law or the law of any member state.’”
Because the law applies to platforms with more than 45 million users per month, it directly affects most major American social media companies.
“The DSA defines a VLOP as a site with over 45 million users per month. This includes all of the major American social media companies, including Google, Facebook, X, and Booking.co.”
Singleton warns that the law could impact American users even though it originates in Europe.
“The DSA could affect American social media users because some VLOPs may decide to apply the DSA’s standards to all their users in order to avoid inadvertently violating the law.”
Recent congressional investigations have begun examining the EU’s efforts to pressure American companies to censor speech. The House Judiciary Committee, chaired by Representative Jim Jordan, has released reports detailing meetings between European regulators and American social media firms.
“Since 2020, the European Commission held more than 100 meetings with representatives of American social media companies… to pressure these companies to ‘strengthen their content moderation policies’ in order to censor their users—including American citizens.”
Singleton notes that these efforts intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic, when regulators targeted speech questioning masks, vaccines, and lockdown policies.
At the same time, some U.S. policymakers have begun pushing back against European censorship efforts. Federal Trade Commission Chair Andrew Ferguson has warned that censoring Americans on behalf of foreign governments could violate U.S. consumer protection laws.
Singleton concludes that the United States must remain vigilant against attempts to export Europe’s regulatory censorship model.
“Hopefully, the Trump Administration will follow the lead of Chair Jordan and become consistent defenders of the First Amendment.”
📖 Read the full column in RealClearMarkets.
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