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FCC chair slams DSA for clashing with U.S. free speech

values

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DSA may limit freedom of expression, says Carr

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DSA could lead to big fines for US tech giants like Meta

By Supantha Mukherjee

STOCKHOLM, March 3 (Reuters) - The European Union's

content moderation law is incompatible with America's free

speech tradition and there is a risk that it will excessively

restrict freedom of expression, the Federal Communications

Commission (FCC) chairman said on Monday.

"There is some concern that I have with respect to the

approach that Europe is taking with the DSA (Digital Services

Act) in particular," Brendan Carr, a Republican appointed to the

FCC by U.S. President Donald Trump, said at the Mobile World

Congress in Barcelona, Spain.

For U.S. tech companies in Europe, Carr said, DSA's

censorship "is something that is incompatible with both our free

speech tradition in America and the commitments that these

technology companies have made to a diversity of opinions."

The DSA, which became effective a year ago, is meant to make

the online environment safer and fairer by compelling tech

giants to do more to tackle illegal content including hate

speech and child sexual abuse material.

It aims to curb misuse of platforms that impinge on

fundamental rights and rein in intentional manipulation, such as

the use of bots to influence elections and public health issues.

Violations of the DSA could potentially mean big fines.

Social media companies X and Meta are currently being

investigated under the DSA.

Last month, Trump signed a memorandum warning that his

administration would scrutinise the EU's Digital Markets Act and

the DSA "that dictate how American companies interact with

consumers in the European Union".

In a letter to U.S. technology companies last week, Carr

requested briefings on how they planned to reconcile the DSA

with America's free speech tradition, and the role they believed

EU government officials would play in encouraging the silencing

of speech.

"If there is an urge in Europe to engage in protectionist

regulations, to give disparate treatment to U.S. technology

companies, the Trump administration has been clear that we are

going to speak up and defend the interests of U.S. businesses,"

he said.

EU digital chief Henna Virkkunen, who was in attendance at

the meeting, did not comment on Carr's speech.