Why Europeans don't like tech's Trump ban

Follow Us Get the newsletter Hey all, it's Natalia in Brussels. Technology companies' swift action against digital misinformation this week has drawn some unlikely opponents: Germany and France. Last week's riot at the U.S. Capitol prompted Facebook Inc., Twitter Inc. and Snap Inc. to ban the accounts of U.S. president Donald Trump for inciting violence and spreading false information about the country's November election. This week, European leaders slammed the companies' decision to expel the president, arguing that elected officials should be the only entities with the power to regulate speech.    On Sunday, EU Digital Commissioner Thierry Breton wrote in a Politico op-ed that "these last few days have made it more obvious than ever that we cannot just stand by idly and rely on these platforms' good will." On Monday, the French finance minister called big tech "one of the threats" to democracy, while a French junior minister told Bloomberg TV he was "shocked" by the decisions. And a spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the companies' moves were "problematic," adding that free speech should be only be limited within a "framework defined by the legislature—not according to a corporate decision." The outcry highlights the very different approaches of U.S. and European regulators when it comes to harmful content online. That's not to say Europe is more permissive. In the EU, platforms like Facebook and Twitter, as well as lesser-known websites, have to abide by an increasingly onerous set of policies around harmful content including violent hate speech and disinformation. In the U.S., companies effectively decide for themselves how to treat that content. Some European officials say the developments in the U.S. show the need for more European-style regulation. They have pointed to the companies' failure to prevent the prolific spread of conspiracy theories and misinformation that led to the attack on Congress in the first place. In his op-ed, Breton called on the U.S. to join forces with the European Union on its so-called Digital Services Act unveiled in December. Under the proposed rules, companies could face fines as high as 6% of global revenue it they don't comply with orders by authorities to remove illegal content, including violent hate speech. But deep cultural differences are likely to prevent the U.S. and EU from agreeing on a regulatory framework. Freedom of speech is seen as sacrosanct in the U.S., where it's protected by the Constitution. In Europe, however, the scars of Nazi ascendance and the odious propaganda that supported it have made officials more willing to take action against hateful content (even if the legacy of Soviet-era censorship in former satellite states has also made officials wary of going too far). In Europe, the debate over online speech emerged several years ago in an effort to curb radicalization following a string of terrorist attacks, including mass shootings in Paris in 2015. Calls online by right-wing extremists to light fire to migrant shelters in Europe also alarmed officials about the need to prevent real-world harm. Some countries like Germany and France have already pushed ahead with their own laws on illegal content. And if it moves forward, the EU's Digital Services Act will aim to create an even set of standards across the bloc. But there has been substantial discord over the mechanics of some of those rules. The German law faced intense scrutiny from free speech advocates, who worried that platforms may overcompensate and remove too much content to avoid getting fined. And after France tried to push through a similar law on hate speech, it was declared unconstitutional last June. One idea Europe does seem to be able to agree on is that tech giants have too much power—that ethos turns up again and again in EU policy. It's safe to say that most EU leaders would love to see Trump stop spreading misinformation online. They just don't want technology companies to be the ones to enforce it. —Natalia Drozdiak If you read one thing Amazon's decision to remove web support for Parler highlights the immense, but rarely used, power of the retail giant's cloud unit. Parler is suing Amazon in response.  Paid Post   The world's most trusted organizations partner with Crowdstrike to stop data breaches. We stop. So you can go. Crowdstrike secures the data and infrastructure that keeps the world running. That's why we're a trusted partner of the world's most important organizations. We stop. So you can go.   Crowdstrike And here's what you need to know in global technology news Companies including Microsoft, Airbnb, Intel and Facebook have halted political giving either entirely, or specifically to politicians that voted against the certification of President-elect Joe Biden. Twitter's critics say the company's Trump ban won't make up for its years of giving him a megaphone.  SoftBank sold about $2 billion of Uber stock as ride-hailing's prospects have improved.  California WeChat users are suing the company over alleged surveillance and pro-China censorship.    You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Fully Charged newsletter. Unsubscribe | Bloomberg.com | Contact Us Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022