US President Donald Trump’s administration will fund efforts in Western countries to promote free speech, a response to European legislation that US officials have called censorship, Reuters reports.
US officials have strongly opposed legislation that affects online activities, such as the European Union’s Digital Services Act and Britain’s Online Safety Act. Washington has said the regulations restrict free speech, especially criticism of immigration policy, while creating obstacles for US technology companies. Supporters of the legislation, in turn, emphasize that the rules allow them to combat hate speech, disinformation and misinformation.
Sarah Rogers, the undersecretary of state for public diplomacy, has become one of the leading figures in the US fight against the European laws, and the State Department said she will speak about free speech and freedom online during visits to Dublin, Budapest, Warsaw and Munich.
Speaking at a panel discussion in Budapest on the 9th of February, Rogers said her office would be very direct and open about everything it does. She stressed that her position allows her to channel US funding through grants, and added that she wants to promote free speech in allied democracies.
The Financial Times reported in early February, citing a source familiar with the matter, that
Rogers had discussed funding for think tanks and non-profits with Britain’s opposition Reform Party,
which would operate under Trump’s MAGA (Make America Great Again) policies.
The US national security strategy, released in December, said that European leaders were restricting free speech and suppressing those who oppose immigration policies, thereby exposing the continent to the collapse of civilization.
Washington later denied visas to a former EU commissioner and four people who run anti-disinformation campaigns, saying they were involved in censorship of US social media. Europeans condemned the ban and defended their right to determine how foreign companies operate in Europe.
American politicians have also taken aim at European far-right parties, which they see as victims of censorship, and have pointed out that perfectly legitimate concerns about migration are being labeled as hate speech.
Rogers spoke on the 9th of February with an adviser to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and said that the Trump administration shares the same views as a large majority of Europeans on migration. The politician was referring to a survey in one European country, without naming any specific countries.
The US representative emphasized that the American government is aggressively engaging in the issue of freedom of expression, because without it there can be no self-determination, nor can there be democratic freedoms if certain opinions are banned in the public sphere.
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