The Knights of Free Speech

Get ready for a showdown: Will the US’ take on the EU’s ‘Democracy Shield’ and challenge the EU’s censorious attitude in 2025 onwards? The battle for free speech may be heating up even further.

This spring, EU Commissioner Ursula von der Leyen announced that she wants to create a “European Democracy Shield ” to protect the EU from foreign interference. Von der Leyen’s democracy shield is currently in the planning stage. The claimed intent is to create a “dedicated structure for countering foreign information manipulation and interference”. While being touted as a tool to protect democracy, some suspect it’s actually a veiled attempt to suppress dissent. The EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), which was adopted last year, is closely related to this shield. Through the DSA, large social media platforms like Elon Musk’s X risk facing significant fines if they do not comply with EU bureaucrats’ demands for censorship and moderation.

In stark contrast to this, incoming US President Donald Trump has distinguished himself as a clear advocate for freedom of speech and a strong opponent of censorship. He has previously been banned by YouTube, but has stated that he wants to “shatter the left-wing censorship regime and to reclaim the right to free speech for all Americans” . He has also claimed that “if we don’t have free speech, then we just don’t have a free country.”

His incoming Vice President, J.D. Vance, has even hinted that he is open to conditioning US military aid on the respect for freedom of speech in European NATO countries. Vance’s statement came after EU Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton sent a controversial letter to Musk ahead of his planned conversation with Trump. Today, this appears to be an ill-advised move, not least because it can be seen as an attempt to influence the US election - something that paradoxically contradicts the stated purpose of von der Leyen’s democracy shield (i.e. counter foreign manipulation).

If NATO wants us to continue supporting them, and NATO wants us to continue to be a good participant in this military alliance, why don’t you respect American values and respect free speech?

– J.D. Vance

In the EU, advocates for freedom of speech are less common in public. In Germany, Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck has recently stated that he is “not happy with what’s happening there [on X] at all … since Elon Musk took over”, and wants to see stricter regulation of social media. A German pensioner has recently had his home searched by police after publishing a picture of Habeck with a derogatory comment . German police are also pursuing another account holder who called a minister “overweight.” This not-at-all-overweight minister recently banned a newspaper allied with what is, according to opinion polls, Germany’s next-largest party, Alternative for Germany (AfD). A party that 113 German parliamentarians are now formally trying to ban .

After the US election results, many unanswered questions arise. Will the White House direct its attention to the EU’s more restrictive attitude, which can be seen as undermining free speech? Or are Musk’s X and China’s TikTok facing an EU ban instead? Can EU countries still count on military support from the US? And if large American platforms are banned, where should EU citizens turn instead? There are no large European platforms, apart from Russian alternatives. And if the issue of freedom of speech is reconsidered, what does that mean for the future of parties like the German AfD?

Cover image created with AI