Henna Virkkunen, the EU Commissioner for technology, will explain the EU’s technology legislation during her visit to the US this week after the bloc received a lot of criticism from the other side of the Atlantic for its “restrictive rules”, a spokesperson for the European Commission said on Tuesday.
Carr earlier this year called the Digital Services Act (DSA), the EU’s online platform rules, "an attack on free speech”, while Jordan sent a letter to Virkkunen and her competition counterpart Teresa Ribera, claiming the Digital Markets Act (DMA) targets US companies.
The Commission spokesperson said Virkkunen’s visit is “a good opportunity to recall the views. We don’t have to agree on all the points. The DSA is not a censorship tool. It will be a chance to meet people who think the same, but also to explain what the legislation is about.”
EU rules have been the subject of several attacks since US President Donald Trump came to power in January. Not only by government officials, but also by the Big Tech companies themselves.
In April the Commission fined Meta €200 million for breaches of the DMA. In response, Meta’s Chief Global Affairs Officer Joel Kaplan said the Commission is “attempting to handicap successful American businesses while allowing Chinese and European companies to operate under different standards.”
Virkkunen spoke to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg last week and met TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew. The spokesperson said the talks are not just about legislation. “We have many shared values and global challenges, including minor and democracy protection, in that mindset Virkkunen met with the CEO of TikTok and Meta.”
