WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Marco Rubio is “concerned” that “freedom of expression” is “eroding” in Europe, he told The Daily Wire at his year-end press conference on Friday.
Rubio said that his top priority is situations where “American free speech could be implicated.”
“Are we going to live in a world where some American puts up a social media post and then gets to some airport somewhere and is arrested? We’re also concerned about the impact that some of their policies are having on our social media platforms,” he said.
Freedom of speech concerns in Europe have garnered the attention of the United States under the Trump administration, as the State Department said in a post on X in July, “In Europe, thousands are being convicted for the crime of criticizing their own governments. This Orwellian message won’t fool the United States. Censorship is not freedom.” The post was in response to the French Mission of United Nations said that in Europe, people are “free to speak, not free to spread illegal content.”
In the United Kingdom, roughly 30 people a day are arrested over “offensive online messages,” according to The Times. In addition, groups across the political spectrum like the Alliance Defending Freedom and Amnesty International, have sounded the alarm for years over free speech woes, including in countries like France.
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“As you recently saw, you know, X is facing this massive multi-million dollar fine that they’re going to have to pay, I guess, because they want to continue to operate,” Rubio continued.
The secretary then dived into the importance of working with nations in Europe because of shared “values and principles,” including freedom of speech, which is what makes the concerns paramount.
The Daily Wire reported last month on how the European Commission did not factor in censorship risks when it came to the Digital Services Act, which has tech companies pay up for allowing “illegal content” or disinformation to not be effectively counteracted.
“I think the concerns on free speech are very substantive, and they need a robust response, and we feel that the European Commission has not actually conducted a robust review in the sense of actually inviting all voices and all partners to the table,” Dr. Adina Portaru, a senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom International, told The Daily Wire in an interview at the time.
“The DSA can impact anyone, can impact content creators and influencers and preachers and political dissidents and any kind of content online can be regulated by the DSA through its architecture,” she added.
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