This blog outlines the growing tensions between US tech giants and the EU over digital regulations amidst shifting policies and the incoming Trump administration.
The beginning of 2025 has been marked by the deterioration of already fragile relations between the major US tech platforms, X and Meta, and the European Union. Strengthened by the upcoming inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg seem to persist in moving away from the standards introduced by the EU digital rulebook. While Musk’s position has always been clear and openly critical of the European approach, Zuckerberg’s strong stance is something of a novelty.
On January 7, Meta’s CEO announced that the company would be ending its third-party fact-checking programme and moving to a Community Notes model in the US. According to Zuckerberg, this model will promote free expression and limit the mistakes caused by the complex content moderation systems used until now that led to excessive censorships. This decision, although limited to the US for the time being, poses a problem for the European Union given that fact checking and content moderation are cornerstones of the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Code of Practice on Disinformation.
During the Midday Press Briefing of January 8, Thomas Regnier, the EC spokesperson, said that, under the DSA, before deploying such new policies or features, Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) need to provide a critical impact assessment on systemic risks. Replying to further questions, he stressed that the EC would never open proceedings on something happening outside of the EU, considering that Meta measures, at the moment, concern only the US.
At the EP level, the ECR group welcomed Meta’s announcement, underlining that these measures represent a decisive break from top-down censorship and promote freedom of speech. On the other hand, the S&D group urged Meta to fulfil its obligations under the DSA and the Code of Practice on Disinformation. In addition, they called on the EC to hold tech giants accountable.
Zuckerberg rehashed his scepticism about European regulations in his interview on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast. On this occasion, Meta’s CEO accused the EU of institutionalised censorship and urged the Trump Administration to defend the US tech companies against the enforcement of the EU digital rulebook. Questioned by Politico, European Commission Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen underlined that these allegations are “not true” and “misleading”, issuing the reminder that freedom of speech is one of the EU’s fundamental values.
Meta was designated as a VLOP under the DSA in April 2023. Subsequently, the Commission opened two formal proceedings against the company to investigate potential breaches of the regulation. The first proceedings, opened in April 2024, concern Meta’s policies when it comes to deceptive advertising, disinformation, visibility of pollical content, and its mechanisms to flag illegal content. The second proceedings were then opened in May of the same year focusing on the protection of minors. Both investigations are still ongoing at technical level.
At the same time, Elon Musk and his platform, X, were also the objects of criticism from several European politicians. Indeed, Musk’s endorsement of Alice Weidel, leader of Alternative for Germany (AfD), and their livestream, was deemed an action of potential interference in EU affairs, considering the relevance of X in reaching the public. Doubts arose as to whether this livestream could breach the DSA by using X’s algorithm to push the interview to millions of viewers. During the Midday Press Briefing of January 6, Mr Regnier underlined that freedom of expression is at the core of democracy and added that the interview was not inherently illegal. However, he said that the EC could potentially look into this livestream in the context of its ongoing proceeding against X.
As in the case of Meta, the Commission has ongoing formal proceedings against X. The investigation was firstly opened in December 2023 and focuses on risk management, content moderation, dark patterns, advertising transparency and data access for researchers. In July 2024, the Commission shared with X its preliminary findings, highlighting the breach of the DSA regarding the platform’s policies on “Blue checkmark,” advertising transparency, and providing researchers with access to its public data. This case is still ongoing, as a final decision has not been made yet.
The concerns around Musk remain at the centre of the public debate, as Bloomberg reported on January 14 that China is considering the possibility of selling the TikTok’s US operations to Elon Musk. The European Parliament is expected to hold a plenary debate on X’s compliance with the DSA, Politico stated.
From these early developments, it appears clear that the new US administration will pose a challenge to the European Union and its digital rulebook. The connection between digital tycoons and Donald Trump should not be underestimated. After five years of open confrontation between these online platforms and former Commissioner for Internal Market and Service, Thierry Breton, it will be interesting to see how EVP Virkkunen will address this pressing issue.
Image source: European Parliament