As tensions rise between the US and Europe, the technology industry is emerging as a key battleground. The administration of US President Donald Trump is aggressively challenging European efforts to regulate technology, an area where American companies hold significant sway. As reported by Le Monde, speaking at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on March 3, 2025, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr voiced concerns about the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), which has governed social media content moderation since 2023. “The approach Europe is taking with the DSA risks imposing overly restrictive rules on free speech,” Carr cautioned during a roundtable with Henna Virkkunen, the European Commission’s vice president for digital sovereignty. He argued that the DSA’s potential for censorship clashes with America’s free speech values.
Incidentally, this criticism from FCC chief was not one off. It is part of a sustained offensive by the US officials since President Trump took office. The US is increasingly pushing back against European policies that could affect its tech titans -— companies like Meta (encompassing Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp), Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, OpenAI, and Twitter.
On February 23, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan escalated the attack in a sharply worded letter to Teresa Ribera, the EU’s competition commissioner since Margrethe Vestager’s exit in 2024. Jordan decried the DSA as censorship and accused the EU of using the Digital Markets Act (DMA)—in effect since March 2024—to unfairly target American firms. The DMA rules impose competition rules on major digital platforms, such as search engines and e-commerce sites, prohibiting self-preferencing. Jordan claimed it disproportionately burdens non-European companies, noting that five of the seven platforms it affects are American (alongside Europe’s Booking and China’s ByteDance). He demanded Ribera provide a briefing by 10:00 a.m. ET on March 10, 2025.
Trump calls out ‘overseas extortion’ of American tech companies in EU
Last month, on February 21 to be precise, Trump released a memorandum vowing to retaliate with tariffs or other measures against any “discriminatory” penalties imposed on US tech companies. This initiative specifically targets the US technology sector, which the White House claims is a victim of ‘overseas extortion and unfair fines and penalties’. Austria, Canada, France, Italy, Spain, Turkey and the United Kingdom have been singled out for having implemented taxes, fees or regulations on digital services.
This was a clear reference to EU investigations under the DSA (targeting X, Facebook, and Instagram) and DMA (targeting Apple, Meta, and Google’s parent company, Alphabet), which carry fines of up to 6% and 10% of global revenue, respectively—or even an EU ban.
GAFA and more: How EU-US economic rift is widening
Trump’s administration is also reviving older disputes, such as the “GAFA taxes”—digital levies adopted by countries like France since 2019 to tax tech giants locally, amid stalled global tax talks at the OECD, from which Trump withdrew the US in January. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer has been directed to investigate these taxes anew. The memorandum further criticizes European rules requiring streaming services like Netflix and Prime Video to fund local content (e.g., 20% of sales in France) and restrictions on cross-border data flows, possibly alluding to France’s “trusted cloud” initiative, which favors providers free from US legal reach.
This aggressive stance aligns with pressure from US tech leaders. At February’s Artificial Intelligence Action Summit in Paris and Munich, Vice President JD Vance echoed these criticisms, joined by industry voices like Elon Musk, who has contested the DSA, and Mark Zuckerberg, who has sought Trump’s backing against EU “censorship.”
Apple CEO Tim Cook has reportedly raised similar concerns over Brussels’ fines, while US tech lobbies are now targeting the EU’s AI Act. As this transatlantic clash intensifies, the digital landscape remains a volatile frontline.