The Trump administration is amplifying its opposition to the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA), which regulates online platforms' handling of disinformation. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has directed US diplomats to criticize the DSA and raise concerns about its compliance costs for American companies. The DSA's contentious nature was evident during recent US-EU trade negotiations, although it did not factor into the final agreement. The European Commission maintains its position that EU regulations are non-negotiable, demonstrating the ongoing tension between US and European digital policies.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has reportedly ordered US diplomats to whip up opposition to the EU's Digital Services Act, the rulebook the bloc introduced in 2023 to govern how platforms handle disinformation and other online ills.
The DSA has been in the Trump administration's sights at least since February, when Vice President JD Vance shocked European officials with a diatribe about online censorship. "Dismissing people, dismissing their concerns... is the most surefire way to destroy democracy," he thundered.
Rubio is now understood to have instructed his underlings in Europe to regularly harangue local governments and regulators about the DSA and how much compliance costs American companies. "[Diplomats] should focus efforts to build host government and other stakeholder support to repeal and/or amend the DSA or related EU or national laws restricting expression online," Reuters claimed today.
The State Department did not reply to a request for comment from The Register, but the Commission was defiant. "As we have said many times and I now repeat: our EU regulations and standards were never up for discussion."
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