Politicians are discussing a wide range of topics, such as improving cooperation between Europol and the FBI, as well as combating crime and terrorism.
American President Trump and major American tech companies (Google, X, Facebook) consider the so far ‘voluntary’ EU rules for internet usage (both personal and business) to be ‘a form of censorship.’ Twitter and Facebook have already decided to lift their prior oversight.
An American hearing on European tech regulations earlier this month exposed the gap between Washington and Brussels. While the EU stands by its digital code, opponents in the US label it as censorship. The EU emphasizes that the Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act support fundamental rights and apply to all companies, regardless of origin.
Since the implementation of the DSA and DMA, the European Commission has initiated several investigations into major internet platforms, including Google, Meta, and Apple. These investigations are still ongoing. The political tone in the US has hardened since the return of President Donald Trump, who portrays European digital regulation as unfair to American companies and threatens retaliatory measures.
Trump has tried to include the EU internet rules in the recent agreement on new import tariffs with Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, but Brussels continues to emphasize that the EU will maintain its own rules, including for American tech companies.
It is expected that the talks in Washington will also focus heavily on protecting personal data and, as it is called, ‘the protection of children online.’ This term conceals the European Union's intent for active prior oversight of all internet traffic to detect and prosecute child pornography.
Such ‘chat control’ can only be achieved by circumventing encryption technology (the encoding of texts and images in internet traffic). This has led to complaints about privacy violations and unnecessary government control in many EU countries. Others say the government must also be able to track down criminals online, just as it can intercept telephone communications.
EU countries are about to make a decision on chat control. Under Danish presidency, a vote on a revised proposal (“Chat Control 2”) is scheduled for next month. The core is that tech platforms, even those with end-to-end encryption, must deploy detection technology to identify child abuse imagery and associated URLs before transmission. EU countries have been debating this since 2022 but still lack a qualified majority.
The positions of EU countries have so far diverged, making the outcome uncertain. Supporters point to child protection and shared transatlantic concerns; critics warn that mass scanning infringes on the privacy of millions of citizens and undermines journalism and even law enforcement. Thus, the debate revolves around whether 'protecting children from child pornography' and strong encryption can be reconciled.