As the EU prepares its third landmark tech law in the last few years, the US has enacted just two narrow federal tech laws in the past 25 years
Federal privacy bills, security legislation and antitrust laws to address the power of the tech giants have all failed to advance in Congress …
New York TimesCecilia Kang
Context & Ripple Effects
The EU had already emerged as a regulator willing to constrain Silicon Valley where Washington had not, a role captured in earlier coverage of its expanding oversight of US tech companies. As lawmakers finalized the Digital Markets Act, major US tech companies had shifted from trying to reshape the measure to preparing for compliance.
The gap matters because Congress's failure to advance federal privacy, security, and antitrust measures leaves the EU's regulatory timetable as the more immediate source of broad obligations for the largest technology platforms.
First-order effects
Congress's inability to move the named federal bills leaves US technology companies without a new nationwide framework in those areas while EU rules continue to advance.
Large US technology companies must prioritize compliance with the EU's developing regime, after their lobbying failed to secure substantial changes to the Digital Markets Act.
Second-order effects
Separate US and EU approaches force technology companies into parallel legal and enforcement work, an outcome later coverage described as splitting their attention across competing regulatory battles.
The absence of federal action preserves the incentive for companies to seek a national privacy law that overrides California's rules, the objective identified in earlier industry lobbying.
Third-order effects
If the legislative gap persists, the EU is positioned to keep setting practical constraints for global platforms while US federal policy remains reactive or fragmented.
The divergence shifts competition over technology governance toward jurisdictional rule-setting, with companies contesting both compliance burdens and the perceived fairness of EU enforcement.
The trend: Technology regulation is becoming a contest between the EU's advancing platform rules and a US system where federal legislation repeatedly stalls.
For too long, tech platforms have amplified disinformation and extremism with no accountability. The EU is poised to do something about it. I urge our transatlantic allies to push the Digital Services Act across the finish line and bolster global democracy before it's too late.
@ceciliakang
Cecilia Kang on x
The U.S. is the birthplace of the iPhone, Google, Facebook. But leadership on regulations is taking place more than 3,000 miles from DC, by Europeans from 27 nations w 24 languages, who have nonetheless agreed on online protections for 450million citizens. https://www.nytimes.com…
@obrien
Chris O'Brien on x
EU policymakers, while not perfect, have 2 major advantages: They are far enough from Silicon Valley to not be brain-addled by its utopian bullshit. And there is a belief that government can be a positive force for people and markets. The US will simply never get there. https://t…
@thierrybreton
Thierry Breton on x
Today might be D-Day for the Digital Services Act! Together with the European Parliament & Council, the Commission has worked in record time to protect 🇪🇺 citizens online. Here are the 10 things you need to know about the #DSA ahead of our (hopefully) final trilogue. 🧵⤵️ https://…
@satariano
Adam Satariano on x
Today's events in Brussels contrast with the inaction in the U.S., @ceciliakang explains. https://www.nytimes.com/...
@sam_dumitriu
Sam Dumitriu on x
It's not hard to think of cases where bans on ad targeting could backfire and harm minorities. What happens to a hairdresser who specialises in Afro-Caribbean hair? Can they target their ads? What about a bookshop that specialises in queer literature? https://twitter.com/...
@mr_james_c
James Clark on x
Never ceases to amaze me the uncritical reporting the EU receives for unworkable, poorly considered laws. Tell me another political organisation that gets such coverage? https://twitter.com/...
@johnnyryan
Johnny Ryan on x
I spoke to @NYTimes about Digital Services Act, and Europe's dismal record of enforcement against Big Tech https://www.nytimes.com/...
@jason_kint
Jason Kint on x
Kicker: “Big Tech sees data as dollar signs, so for decades they've bankrolled industry lobbyists to help them evade accountability,” @SenMarkey said. 'We've reached a breaking point.'" https://twitter.com/...
@justinhendrix
Justin Hendrix on x
DSA deal moved so quickly... https://twitter.com/...
@carnage4life
@carnage4life on x
Tech platforms now have to deal with the realities of geopolitics like every other industry instead of feigning neutrality. Apple has to balance banning Navalny's app to appease Putin with deciding when to pull out of the country because of global outrage at Putin' war mongering
@carnage4life
@carnage4life on x
Reading a thread on the EU's Digital Services Act and the trends are going in the direction I've predicted. Governments want more power to censor social media but also want to restrict the platform's ability to censor (aka moderate). It's a global theme. https://twitter.com/... h…
@johnwilson
John Wilson on x
Probably because the tech companies they're targeting are not based there. https://twitter.com/...
@eff
@eff on x
As the final trilogue on the EU's Digital Services Act wraps up, we remain concerned that proposed changes in the liability regime for large platforms will morph into a scanning program threatening free expression. @Europarl_EN must stand with users and reject such proposals.
@accessnow
@accessnow on x
Today's the day — the EU is set to reach a deal on the Digital Services Act. The #DSA will revolutionise platform and content governance. It must put people's rights first. https://www.ft.com/...
@jesselehrich
Jesse Lehrich on x
🚨 Barack Obama & Hillary Clinton have both touted the EU's Digital Services Act as a bulwark for democracy today. tomorrow, European negotiators have a chance to reach a final agreement on the landmark overhaul of platform governance standards. https://twitter.com/...
@daphnehk
Daphne Keller on x
But honestly, those DSA changes are less surprising. It looks like the war in Ukraine created a political opportunity for advocates of tighter restrictions to push their agenda (for “security” to trump “liberty"), and they took it. That's pretty normal politics, if bad law. 4/
@eilah_tan
Nathalie Van Raemdonck on x
I once heard an American scoff at my European colleagues at a cyberdiplomacy event saying “what tech innovations have ever come out of the EU?” to which they replied: “Laws” https://www.nytimes.com/...
@mmasnick
Mike Masnick on x
Ugh. The Digital Services Act has tremendous problems, and is in the process of getting worse as special interests shove in dangerous christmas presents. It won't “boost global democracy.” It will do tremendous damage to the internet. https://twitter.com/...
@satariano
Adam Satariano on x
E.U. deal on a landmark internet law expected today. - Firms must create new policies to remove illicit content. _ Audits for “systemic risks” (misinfo, eating disorder content, etc) _ Ban on ad targeting based on race, religion, sexual orientation https://www.nytimes.com/...