The European Union’s censorious Digital Services Act (DSA) is compatible with freedom of speech, European Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton has stated.
Under the incoming law, certain social media firms that fail to censor speech the EU disapproves of will face being banned from the bloc within a matter of hours, although Breton has insisted that does not mean Europe is anti-free-speech.
Responding to an open letter signed by more than 60 NGOs, which decries his previous pro-censorship statements, Breton insisted that the EU was totally behind freedom of expression in situations when it benefited Brussels.
? #DSA ??
Answer by EU Commissioner @ThierryBreton:
“Europe stands by the #freedom of expression and a neutral & #open internet.”
“Rather than relying on platforms’ good will, the EU has chosen to organise the digital space with clear #rights, #obligations & safeguards.” pic.twitter.com/eIpuMy8mpu
— Terence Zakka (@Mr_Zakka) July 27, 2023
“Europe stands by the freedom of expression and a natural and open internet and firmly opposes decisions where content, services, and applications are blocked or degraded on an arbitrary and unjustified basis,” the commissioner said.
Breton added that the EU “also stands by” its right to cut-off Europeans from certain websites if and when it sees fit, arguing that such censorship is needed for the sake of “protecting” EU citizens.
“Rather than relying on platforms’ good will, the EU has chosen to organise the digital space with clear rights, obligations and safeguards,” he said, once again warning that social media operators that fail to implement the censorship rules will face sanctions up to and including total bans in the EU.
Breton also assured the NGOs that, while the power to cut off such firms from Europe is included within the law, the final call for any bans will be in the hands of the European courts and not the European Commission.
However, he added that the EC will be able to unilaterally impose sanctions listed in the DSA, which includes outright bans on applicable websites, on an interim basis should it feel that a social media firm is breaking European censorship rules.
“In the event of an urgent situation where there is a risk of serious damage to the users of a service … the Commission can order interim measures against a potentially non-compliant Very Large Online Platform or Search Engine if there is a case (prima facie) to suggest that an infringement of the DSA has taken, or is taking, place,” he wrote.
This echoes previous claims made by Breton that by using the DSA, the EU will be able to block social media websites within a matter of hours should they be suspected of breaking EU law.
“If [social media firms] don’t act immediately, then yes, at that point we’ll be able not only to impose a fine but also to prohibit their operations within our territory,” he told French media earlier in July, insisting that Brussels will have “enforcement teams” capable of applying its censorship rules “immediately”.
