Carr Requests Briefings With Tech Companies on EU Online Content Laws
The FCC has sent letters to U.S. tech companies that are regulated under the EU’s Digital Services Act, offering to help them oppose “censorship requests coming from Europe,” said FCC Chairman Brendan Carr in a post-meeting press conference Thursday. Europe's…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
DSA is “very discriminatory” and “Orwellian” and requires U.S. platforms to censor speech, Carr said. The letters -- sent to Alphabet, Apple, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, X, Snap, Wikipedia, LinkedIn and Pinterest -- ask the companies to schedule briefings with him on “reconciling the DSA with America’s free speech tradition” and the role of EU officials in encouraging censorship. The briefings should also include information on the economic and technical feasibility of geofencing -- separating online platforms into two, with one consistent with EU law and the other “for free speech,” Carr said. The DSA “is positioned to thwart efforts by U.S. tech companies to preserve and respect First Amendment principles on their platforms,” the letters said. They highlighted DSA rules against hate speech, blasphemy, insults and speaking ill of the dead, and an impending rule that requires companies to follow the EU’s rules against disinformation. Carr said the DSA could force U.S. companies to alter their content moderation policies to meet EU standards, which would take them away from fostering free speech. The letters give companies until Monday to respond.