Trump Administration Targets Europe’s Digital Laws as a Threat to Basic Rights and U.S. Business

The Trump administration is ramping up attacks on Europe’s digital rules, opening a new front in Washington’s pressure campaign on longtime allies that combines assertions of defending free speech with efforts to protect commercial interests. Much of the initiative is led by the State Department, which sent a request to its offices around Europe seeking “examples of government efforts to limit freedom of speech.” The push centers on European Union legislation that aims to establish standards for how tech giants should police online content. The U.S. “is committed to shutting down the global censorship-industrial complex,” said the State Department. At the heart of the new push is the EU’s Digital Services Act, adopted in 2022, which regulates European activities of the world’s largest digital platforms, many of which are American. The DSA requires platforms to show they are taking steps to address certain risks, including the spread of illegal content and the use of disinformation to manipulate election results.