Last week saw the Digital Services Act (DSA) hand out its first ever penalty of EUR 130 million to Elon Musk’s X for non-compliance issues.
After a two-year investigation, X was found to have violated transparency rules with its blue-check system, ad repository and lack of data access for researchers. It remains to be seen whether Meta and TikTok face the same fate.
Musk, Owner of X, terminated the European Commission’s advertising account after the fine was established. Various politicians and big tech companies have called the DSA tyrannical, oppressive and undemocratic.
The penalty coincided with the release of the U.S. National Security Strategy, which fed into a MAGA assault on Europe. The strategy pushed the narrative that Europe faces “civilisational erasure” and that the US should support far-right European parties.
However, as liberals we believe that the DSA has never been more important, amid growing disinformation and authoritarianism online. Liberals have pushed for platforms to be regulated in a way that maintains a democratic information space. Protecting transparency means protecting democracy.
Billy Kelleher MEP (Fianna Fáil, IE) commented on MAGA’s attempt to undermine the DSA:
“It’s obvious that MAGA and Far-Right supporters like Elon Musk hate the EU. They want a weak divided Europe so they can manipulate and exploit it. Our strength is our unity, and our capacity to stand up to American extremism, shows the importance of our Union.”
High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas continued, speaking on the growing assault on European sovereignty:
“The United States is still our greatest ally. We haven’t always agreed on certain subjects, but the core principle remains the same. We are the greatest allies, and we must stay united.”
Barry Andrews MEP (Fianna Fáil, IE) criticised the new security strategy:
“This is nothing other than a call for regime change in Europe. We need to wake up to the reality of the current US Administration.”
The DSA’s first strike shows that Europe is not bowing to U.S. pressure and that implementing digital regulation is a strong display of leadership.
Liberals want to hold firm on tech regulation and uphold a digital sphere that respects the values we hold dear. Liberal values are the cornerstone of European democracy, and we cannot allow extremists to undermine our unity.