Jan Philipp Albrecht
The EU still has assertive rules for the major digital platforms. Conversely, under Donald Trump and his allies, the US is becoming an open opponent of digital regulation. Whether through tariffs on EU goods or withdrawal from security guarantees, Trump and powerful tech CEOs such as Musk and Zuckerberg want to bring Europe to its knees.
Even before Donald Trump’s second presidential inauguration, he had already thrown the world into turmoil – and set fundamental political changes in motion. While his foreign and security policy moves were mainly restricted to swaggering pronouncements and threats, the new balance of power already had a direct impact on the regulation of large tech companies.
This had a lot to do with Trump’s powerful ally Elon Musk – the richest person in the world, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, and owner of the short-post social media platform X, which is at least as relevant as it is controversial. The tech billionaire and US special advisor for government efficiency openly uses his power and reach to support far-right forces in Western democracies. At the same time, he delegitimises rule-of-law institutions and blithely spreads conspiracy narratives that could just as easily come straight from the Kremlin.
Clearing the way for disinformation and propaganda
Before Trump’s election success, the lack of proper regulation on X could have been punishable in the US. Now, however, Musk can breathe a sigh of relief – and let disinformation and propaganda run wild: at his suggestion, Trump has now appointed Brendan Carr as the head of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). While the FCC is responsible for adopting and enforcing regulations and guidelines for communications media in the United States, regulation is something of an alien concept to Carr.
Musk also has the backing of Trump’s vice president JD Vance. Vance has already threatened that, if the EU enforces its rules against X, the US could have second thoughts about providing assistance to Ukraine. It is obvious why tech billionaire Musk donated more than a quarter of a billion dollars to the Trump campaign, as well as making public endorsements and campaign appearances. And it is clear that he holds Trump in the palm of his hand because of this.
Bezos and Zuckerberg follow süit
Unsurprisingly, other tech CEOs have not remained unmoved by this. For instance, during the election campaign, Amazon founder and owner of high-profile US daily TheWashington Post Jeff Bezos pulled a planned election endorsement for Democratic candidate Kamala Harris that was to appear in the latter.
Trump and Musk’s ultra-libertarian stance has now also been adopted by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a form of anticipatory obedience. On 8 January 2025, Zuckerberg released a video message in which he smugly announced an immediate end to his collaboration with fact-checkers in the US. He also used this opportunity to claim that there are a growing number of laws on other side of the Atlantic that institutionalise censorship – a tough reproach to Europe. Despite EU Commission vice president Henna Virkkunen’s instant rebuttal, Zuckerberg’s words nevertheless continue to have an impact.
The timing of his comment was no coincidence. With the Digital Markets Act and the Digital Services Act, Europe has brought in new regulations aimed at restricting the power of large online platforms, including social networks. But implementation is progressing slowly. And voices are already being heard calling for a review of the proceedings initiated since March 2024 and even a possible adjustment of the regulations.
A sizeable opportunity for Elon Musk and Co.
Together with the global political situation and the change of power in Washington, D.C., this presents a major opportunity for tech CEOs such as Zuckerberg and Musk. They are keen to avert the stringent enforcement of Europe’s digital regulations and hope that massive political pressure exerted by the new US government on the EU will achieve this. The fact that the European Union – led by a Commission that is still getting settled – is currently being buffeted by political turmoil in Berlin and Paris as well as difficult majorities in the Parliament and Council and is in danger of becoming incapable of action will only encourage Trump, Musk, and Co.
This situation presents a unique opportunity for the unholy alliance of Trump’s MAGA government and the tech CEOs led by Musk to put Europe in its place. While the EU is pressing ahead with proceedings against Meta, Google, and Apple for violations of the Digital Markets Act, calls for a trade war in the form of tariffs on European products are emerging in the US. European heads of state and government and the new European Commission under Ursula von der Leyen should now be fully aware that Europe’s sovereignty is at stake. In the absence of a decisive response from the EU, the attacks from the US will continue.
Panic in the USA
The behaviour of the US side is motivated by one thing above all: panic. It is now clear that EU countries are serious about enforcing their own rules in their own common market – the world’s largest. It is also clear that, unlike the US, the EU has not made its regulatory authorities toothless. Quite the contrary: it has armed them with swords. This is in the Union’s best interests: it is the only way to guarantee fair competition and strong rights for digital services users within its own market and ensure that the laws passed in Europe’s parliaments can actually be enforced.
In the time to come, the question of Europe’s sovereignty will rest on whether the EU and its member states – especially the German federal government – remain committed to the regulations they jointly adopted and give their support to the EU’s regulatory authorities. Steadfastness is urgently called for here – even when it comes to the world’s most powerful and valuable companies and in the face of Trump’s serious threats against European policies. The economic prospects of European companies – including those active in the increasingly fierce media market – hinge on these decisions. As does the freedom and sovereignty of the people of Europe.
Kaynak: https://www.boell.de/en/2025/01/24/trump-and-big-tech-europes-sovereignty-stake
