Europe, South Korea, and Brazil Attack U.S. Tech Over Free Speech
Europe, South Korea, and Brazil Attack U.S. Tech Over Free Speech
We can’t allow left-wing foreign governments to determine what Americans can say online.
French authorities raided X’s Paris office this week as part of a criminal probe into the platform’s alleged “biased algorithms.” X owner Elon Musk denounced the police action as a “political attack.” It marks the latest escalation in Europe’s struggle against American tech companies.
The European Union has ramped up enforcement of its tech regulations to ensure social media platforms censor more and comply with byzantine business rules. This prompted the ire of the Trump administration, which sees the EU’s efforts as intentionally anti-American and anti-free speech.
Unfortunately, the EU isn’t alone in this crusade against American tech. South Korea and Brazil are also waging their own wars on Silicon Valley giants to ensure they suppress free speech and abide by draconian regulations that favor obedient, non-American competitors.
It’s a major problem for our country, as well as for conservatives all over the world who want to preserve free speech. Big Tech was once an ally for globalists in suppressing dissenting voices and imposing liberal groupthink. Thanks to figures like Musk, it’s changed over the last few years to allow more speech and different views. That’s a problem for liberals here in America and abroad. Foreign governments now hope that their draconian rules can force Big Tech back to its old state of following left-wing dictates.
Europe’s efforts in this regard are well-known. The UK and the EU have both considered shutting down X in their domains in order to erase this bastion of free speech. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer vowed last month to take away the platform’s ability to regulate itself if it can’t control Grok AI and “hate speech.” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced this week that his government would impose criminal penalties on social media platforms that allow “hate speech” and “misinformation.” The country would also ban teenagers from using these platforms.
Musk and other prominent figures have drawn attention to these moves coming from Europe. What’s less well-known is South Korea’s efforts to curb American tech.
The House Judiciary Committee recently announced a formal investigation into South Korean regulators targeting American tech companies. According to the committee, the Korean Fair Trade Commission and other official bodies have slammed U.S. firms with “punitive obligations, excessive fines, and discriminatory enforcement practices.” These harmful actions are all done for the purpose of benefiting Korean companies, the committee argues.
The House committee has subpoenaed U.S. e-commerce company Coupang, which has been specifically targeted by South Korea’s harsh laws. Lawmakers warn that South Korea’s laws don’t merely impact its own citizens—they also directly harm American innovation and our own citizens.
South Korea has been turning to Europe for inspiration over its tech laws, particularly over how to go about censorship. In December, the country’s left-wing National Assembly passed a sweeping bill to restrict speech on the internet. Ostensibly aimed at curbing “illegal information,” critics say the bill will lead to significant levels of censorship. One civic group claimed,
By maintaining or even expanding a system of state-led administrative reviews while granting even private platform companies sweeping powers to delete content and block accounts, the law is likely to result in the blanket suppression of controversial expression.
Even journalist groups, which seem to cheer on tech censorship in the U.S. and in Europe, criticized the bill. They argued its broad scope could harm the ability to report the news and pushed for it to be revised.
This matter has caused a rift between the U.S. and South Korea. Trump announced at the end of the last month that he would raise tariffs on the Asian state over its failure to enact the “historic” trade deal between the two countries. One of the stipulations of that deal was that South Korea would not try to punish American tech companies for frivolous reasons. Clearly, the nation’s liberal government has failed to follow that agreement.
Brazil is also making moves to suppress American tech. Influenced by Europe’s own strict regulations, the Latin American country wants to censor social media and forces American companies to follow onerous dictates. One of the most notable examples of Brazilian interference with American tech came in 2024 when Alexandre de Moraes, a Supreme Court justice, ordered X blocked from the country. Moraes made this demand in response to Musk’s refusal to follow court orders to ban certain accounts and speech on the platform.
The Brazilian jurist has tried to make himself the tyrant of the internet, a fact even the New York Times acknowledges:
He has jailed people without trial for threats they made online, blocked news outlets from posting content critical of politicians and ordered the removal of popular social media accounts, while refusing to explain how they threatened democracy.
The worst part about all this is that these rules could impact tech policy in our own country. If the rest of the world forces our companies to comply with their restrictive speech policies, they could make them universal. This would allow petty left-wing despots, such as Justice Moraes, to shape our own elections and politics.
We can’t allow that to happen.
If we want to keep free speech alive, we must combat foreign attempts to snuff it out on the internet. The administration must contest these efforts wherever they may arise. We cannot allow the European Union and South Korea’s ruling left-wing party to decide how Americans talk on the internet.
The post Europe, South Korea, and Brazil Attack U.S. Tech Over Free Speech appeared first on The American Conservative.