Trump Free Speech Attack On Europe Sets Up Big Tech Fight

The interest in free speech, which includes attacks on European protections against election interference from malign actors such as Russia, appears focused on boosting far-right parties. Trump has found allies among tech magnates like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, who are fighting regulators' attempts to rein in US tech giants.

The broadsides, often couched in lofty rhetoric about protecting democracy, may also have a more prosaic motivation: less regulation could free Silicon Valley companies from burdensome requirements and spare them billions of dollars of fines that the EU has levied against them in what Trump last month called a "form of taxation".

The battle is playing out ahead of federal elections in Germany on Sunday, where Trump acolytes have boosted the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, party that has risen to second in the polls. AfD's lead candidate, Alice Weidel, has pledged to "make Germany great again" with a platform that seeks to close borders, unwind European integration and restore relations with Russia.

At the heart of the conflict are Europe's digital regulations, which have frequently targeted the US-based technology companies that dominate the internet. Zuckerberg's Meta Platforms, which owns social media platforms Facebook and Instagram and messaging service WhatsApp, has been hit with more than 2-billion in penalties for breaching antitrust and data protection rules.

European officials argue the issue is about ensuring social media companies take steps to mitigate disinformation and foreign interference that undermine electoral integrity and civil discourse.