Donald Trump’s attacks on EU tech laws have nothing to do with free speech—and everything to do with boosting the far right. That was the blunt message a senior US Democrat delivered to MEPs in Brussels this week. Jamie Raskin, member of the House Judiciary Committee, warned Europeans that the MAGA movement has set its sights on Europe.
On Tuesday afternoon, Mr Raskin appeared before the European Parliament’s IMCO committee to discuss recent US criticism of the Digital Services Act (DSA). He wasted no time distancing himself from it, warning instead that Trump “is not engaging with your leaders in good faith!”
“This MAGA agenda has little to do with free speech absolutism and everything to do with promoting far right parties in Europe. Their obsessive pushback on your tech rules is for one purpose only: to dismantle any laws around the world that would curtail far right, propaganda, disinformation and hate speech,” he said.
Censorship claims
In a debate on so-called “misleading narratives,” MEPs focused on a recent US House Judiciary Committee report claiming EU laws undermine free speech—labelling them a “foreign censorship threat.”
The report argues that EU digital legislation functions as a form of censorship targeting US technology companies. It lists around twenty European Commission officials involved in digital policy. Many MEPs described it as an attack on Europe’s democratic rule of law and digital regulation.
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Authoritarian allies
Mr Raskin was equally incredulous. He said he had expected the committee hearings on foreign threats to free speech to feature Russian dissidents, Chinese pro-democracy activists, or Saudi human rights campaigners. “But silly me, I should have known that the MAGA Republicans who are allowing President Trump to trample freedom all over America today would have no quarrel with the autocrats of Russia, China, North Korea or Saudi Arabia. Why would Trump criticise fellow authoritarians?” he asked sarcastically.
They want people talking about the digital services laws of the EU instead of government violence in the streets of America.—Jamie Raskin, US congressman
The Democrat said Trump’s MAGA allies have “latched on” to the Digital Services Act because it blocks the spread of hate speech worldwide—not because of “a totally hypothetical and barely articulable” attack on Americans’ free speech rights. “They want people talking about the digital services laws of the EU instead of government violence in the streets of America,” he continued.
The Trump administration has repeatedly complained that both the DSA and the Digital Markets Act (DMA) unfairly target American companies. The EU has consistently rejected that claim. But recently the US ambassador to the EU, Andrew Puzder, once again called for fresh political talks on the EU’s digital rulebooks to ease rules for tech companies.
Gatekeeper conundrum
Of the seven companies the Commission has officially designated as gatekeepers—Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta, Microsoft, and Booking.com—only one, ByteDance, is not American. As gatekeepers under the DMA, these companies are required to comply with specific obligations for their core platform services.
But Mr Raskin says thousands of internal company memos and communications collected by the US House Committee show that social media companies are “not looking to apply European standards to US content.” Instead, he said, they are actively geofencing their content moderation—ensuring content shown in Germany complies with German laws, and content shown in the US complies with US laws.
However, MEPs in IMCO have little appetite for bowing to US demands. In a draft resolution on DMA enforcement—adopted the same day as the Raskin debate—MEPs said the Commission must resist political pressure to weaken the rules, asserting that they must apply equally to all gatekeepers regardless of nationality.
Parliament holds firm
They further advised that any review should focus on strengthening the DMA’s effectiveness and enforceability. MEPs also want the Commission to swiftly conclude ongoing non-compliance proceedings, making “full and proactive use” of all instruments at its disposal—including penalties to prevent companies from circumventing the rules.
The MAGA movement now has its sights on Europe.—Jamie Raskin, US congressman
Mr Raskin had a final warning for Europeans. The Trump administration, he said, has doubled down on efforts to intervene in European domestic politics—boosting MAGA-aligned movements such as Nigel Farage’s Reform in the UK and Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz in Hungary. “The MAGA movement now has its sights on Europe,” he warned.
