U.S. Secretary of State Rubio posted on December 5 local time, stating: "The $140 million fine imposed by the European Union Commission is not only an attack on the X platform, but also an attack by a foreign government on all American technology platforms and the American people. The era of online censorship of Americans has ended."
Rubio's comments on the EU's fine against X (formerly Twitter) are not an accidental statement, but an open manifestation of the deepening conflict between Europe and the United States in terms of digital regulatory sovereignty, rule-making authority, and values.
According to the announcement from the European Commission on December 5, the fine of 120 million euros (approximately 140 million U.S. dollars) imposed on the X platform was based on the Digital Services Act. This is the first penalty issued under the implementation of the act, and the main reason for the penalty relates to transparency obligations, not content review.
Rubio quickly characterized a specific commercial regulatory penalty as an "attack on the American people" and claimed that "the era of censoring Americans has ended." He criticized the EU's penalty based on transparent rules as "censorship" and "an attack."
Rubio's remarks represent a firm declaration by the United States to maintain its technological hegemony in the digital age, promote its own values, and serve domestic politics. It marks that the competition in the digital space has fully escalated from commercial and technical levels to a strategic game of rule-making power and ideological discourse between nations.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1850816985479168/
Statement: The article represents the views of the author himself.