Washington, DC – March 31: Federal Communication Commissioner Brendan Carr speaks during the Committee on Energy and Trade Commission for Trade for Communication and Technological Dissertation entitled Connecting America: Nevight of the Capitol Hill on Thursday, March 31, 2022 in Washington. (Photo Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post by Getty Images)
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Barcelona – chairman of the Federal Communication Commission Brendan Carr on Monday swore to defend the interests of American technology companies against “excessive” European regulations when he encouraged “level and honest choice”.
Speaking in front of the audience of leaders and analysts of the technology industry at the Mobile World Congress Conference in Barcelona, Carr said that the technological principles of the European Union were perceived by American technological giants as “excessive” and “incompatible” with American values.
He referred specifically to the EU Act on Digital ServicesA breakthrough adjustment from the block that aims to solve illegal and harmful online content.
“We are coming back to our roots of the first amendment, where we return to our tradition of freedom of speech,” said Carr, adding that there is a feeling that the right of people to freedom of online speech was something that has been eroded since the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021.
“From the President (Donald) Trump to me, throughout the government, we encourage our technology companies to stop the censorship, which we have seen over the past few years,” said Carr.
“There are some concerns about the approach that Europe has adopted in particular from DSA,” he added. “There is a risk that the regulatory system imposes excessive rules in relation to freedom of speech.”
This is not the first time the US marked concerns about European technology regulations.
At the large international AI summit in Paris last month, US Vice President JD Vance It aimed at EuropeThe claim of the regulation caused a burdensome consideration of compliance for American technology companies.
On February 21, President Trump issued a directive threatening to impose tariffs to Europe in order to combat what he called “foreign extortion” of American technology companies through digital services, fines, practice and politics.
In response to Trump's tariffs, the EU has apparently threatened to use New “anti-cooler” instrumentwhich allows the block to take action in the event of economic coercion against EU Member States.
“I think it is a worry for the inhabitants of Europe, but (also) to American technology companies that run here,” said Carr.
“Censorship, which potentially falls from the DSA tube, is something that is incompatible with both our tradition of freedom of speech in America and the obligations that these technology companies have taken in a variety of opinions,” he added.
Henna Virkkunen, vice president of the European Commission for Technological Sovereignty, Safety and Democracy, did not directly deal with the comments of the American regulatory body on excessive European rules while speaking during the panel discussion after Carr's comments.
Instead, she said that Europe is involved in improving competitiveness throughout the block when it comes to technological innovations and digital transformation.
“We will propose a few … packages in which we review our rules,” said Virkkunen this year. She also called for a digital creation of one market in order to harmonize the regulation of the technology and telecommunications industry throughout the EU.
Comes from Mario Draghi, former head of the European Central Bank, issued a broadly extensive report Calling for radical reforms regarding technological competitiveness in order to remedy poor economic growth and performance compared to the US and China.