Free Speech or Intimidation? The American Offensive Against GDPR Reaches a New Level

According to Jim Jordan, a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives, European digital commerce regulation censors the free speech of American companies operating in the European Union. In his crosshairs: the Digital Services Act (Digital Services Act).

In July 2025, he published a draft report entitled: "The foreign censorship threat: how the European Union's Digital Services Act compels global censorship and infringes on American free speech". To that end, he asked around ten digital companies (including Google, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, and Reddit) to provide their working communications with the European Commission, to disregard their confidential nature, and to also share the names of the European officials and NGOs handling the matter. More than 30 names were published in the report, and the lawmaker renewed his request for access to such data in March.

The purpose behind publishing the names and identifying the officials is unclear, but it takes place within a report claiming that the EU is guilty of censoring political speech, even in cases of alternative facts or hate speech. Yet "the publication of personal data of EU staff and civil society experts is extremely concerning", the Commission stated on 20 May.

The lawmaker may be an official supporter of the occupant of the White House, but that does not place him above European law. "The publication of personal data in unredacted documents potentially exposes the companies concerned to legal liability for violation of personal data protection under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)" the European institution continued.

"Consequently, the Commission is considering filing a complaint on behalf of the staff members concerned with the competent data protection authority", the very protection the lawmaker deems illegitimate. Suffice to say, the battle now beginning will not be fought on legal grounds alone.

References:

• Committee on the Judiciary of the U.S. House of Representatives

  The foreign censorship threat: How the European Union's Digital Services Act compels global censorship and infringes on American free speech

• Committee on the Judiciary of the U.S. House of Representatives -

  Chairman Jordan Probes EU Bureaucrats Hiding Efforts to Censor American Speech

• European Parliament

  Answer given by Executive Vice-President Virkkunen on behalf of the European Commission (20.5.2026)