EU Battles US Tech Giants over Digital Sovereignty
During his farewell speech on January 15, former US President, Joe Biden, alarmed the world by saying that an “oligarchy of extreme wealth, power, and influence” is extremely affecting American democracy.
President Trump is supported by tech CEOs Musk and Zuckerberg, and both are the main accused figures due to strong influence, endangering the EU’s digital self-sovereignty, setting in stone what can only be perceived as a dangerous confrontation between the US and EU over digital regulation and free speech.
What Is Digital Sovereignty?
Digital sovereignty is the government’s ability to control its digital infrastructure, data, and technology policies without any external influence.
Digital sovereignty in Europe have been broken for the past year since foreign especially American tech entrepreneurs influenced highlight the European digital field, trying to form a gap between the US and EU tech landscape.
The importance of digital sovereignty lies in protecting the privacy of citizens, security and integrity of democratic processes, while managing the geopolitical regulations of worldwide tech companies’ dominance.
Global Tech Battle
Musk and Zuckerberg’s influence does not only imply on the Us, but now it can tackle the EU digital sovereignty, and now the tech giants’ influence maximized under Trump’s reign.
Hiding behind a falsified “free speech” card, both Musk and Zuck are actively restricting the efforts put by EU to regulate digital platforms, claiming that restrictions limit freedom of expression.
The recent attempts by Musk including using X to challenge EU surveillance, highlights a major interference in EU politics. Meanwhile, Zuckerberg has aligned with Musk’s criticism of the EU, claiming the restriction of engaging in “institutionalized censorship” comparable to China.
During the US election campaign, J.D. Vance, Vice President, alarmed from any attempt to regulate X because it will be seen as attacking free speech and could threaten NATO alliances.
EU Digital Sovereignty Pledge
EU leaders fear an economic and security backlash if they face US tech giants, so they feel trapped between EU digital sovereignty or US digital colonialism. The European Commission has yet to seriously defend the 2022 Digital Services Act (DSA) which ensures content moderation and limits misinformation.
The plot twist is that many European officials are aligning with Musk and Zuckerberg’s viewpoint that progressive forces in Europe are limiting freedom of speech and expression, which has complicated the consolidation and sovereignty in digital new worlds.
EU Digital Sovereignty or US Digital Colonialism
The EU is preventing US pressure because it fears weaking its laws and undermining democratic values. The power of tech billionaires is not to be undermined, as they have the influence to reshape the public discourse to their favor and fuel polarization, much like what happened during the electoral campaign.
Moreover, as witnessed in the US and Brazil situation, far-right movements challenged the results of elections leading to protests and political instability.
There must come a day when the EU announces digital sovereignty pledge and limits the US digital colony. Building alliances with democratic nations is a crucial part that Europe should seek to attain EU digital sovereignty.
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