In a historic speech in Munich this year, Vice President J.D. Vance confronted the Europeans over their attacks on free speech, declaring, “If you are running in fear of your own voters, there is nothing America can do for you.” However, the EU has long worked in conjunction with many on the American left in seeking to force companies to censor Americans.
She was joined by another former democratic presidential nominee, John Kerry, who called for government crackdowns on free speech.
In my book on free speech and various columns, I write about the DSA as one of the greatest assaults on free speech in history. As I wrote in the book:
“Under the DSA, users are ’empowered to report illegal content online, and online platforms will have to act quickly.’ This includes speech that is viewed not only as ‘disinformation’ but also ‘incitement.’ European Commission Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager has been one of the most prominent voices seeking international censorship. At the passage of the DSA, Vestager was ecstatic in declaring that it is ‘not a slogan anymore, that what is illegal offline should also be seen and dealt with as illegal online. Now it is a real thing. Democracy’s back.’”
After the Vance speech, American politicians and journalists quickly added their voices of condemnation. CBS anchor Margaret Brennan confronted Secretary of State Marco Rubio to suggest that Vance’s support for free speech was outrageous because he was “standing in a country where free speech was weaponized to conduct a genocide.” Brennan’s bizarre suggestion that free speech contributed to the death camps was amplified by Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA), who accused Vance of using “some of the same language that Hitler used to justify the Holocaust.”
In the wake of the Munich speech, leading anti-free-speech figures from around the world gathered at the World Forum in Berlin. I was one of the few speakers from the free-speech community at the conference which declared “A New World Order with European Values.” Various Americans were present to reaffirm the worst about the United States as a nation descending into tyranny.
The two most celebrated figures were Bill and Hillary Clinton, who also criticized the current Administration.
After returning from Berlin, I testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee and warned about the growing threat to free speech posed by the use of the DSA.
Since then, the EU has moved forward with its aggressive campaign against U.S. companies and figures who refuse to yield to its expansive censorship demands.
This is the first fine under the DSA and the EU officials acknowledged that it will lay the foundation for additional penalties to come to force companies to comply with EU “values” on free speech.
The European Commission has imposed a €120 million ($140 million) fine on X after finding that it misled users with its paid-for blue checkmark verification symbol, failed to provide researchers with access to data, and did not properly set up an advertising repository. X has 60 days to develop solutions to address the issues and 90 days to implement the changes, or it may face additional fines.
Under the DSA, the EU can impose fines of up to 6% of an online platform’s annual global revenue for failing to address illegal content, disinformation, or transparency requirements. It is still investigating X as well as several other major US tech firms, including Apple, Google, and Meta, under the DSA and the Digital Markets Act. This includes investigations for failing to carry out demands for censorship, including of American citizens.
This is just the first salvo in a war that some of us have warned is coming. We cannot be passive at this moment. The EU is threatening the very indispensable right that has long defined us as a people. Many in the United States are rooting for the Europeans to roll back free-speech protections at X and Meta. Some have appeared before the EU to call for this type of action. They could use the EU to achieve abroad what they have failed to accomplish in the United States. The results will be the same for Americans, who will find themselves subject to European censors and “values.”