President Donald Trump and other Republicans have railed for years against foreign regulation of US tech companies, including online safety laws. As the US fights a global tariff war, it may bring those rules under fire — just as some of them are growing teeth.
Over the past weeks, Trump has touted a blitz of trade deals, seeking concessions from countries in exchange for lower tariffs. This has coincided with the rollout of new child safety measures in the European Union and United Kingdom, most recently a new phase of the UK’s Online Safety Act (OSA), which effectively age-gates porn, bullying, and self-harm promotion, as well as other categories of content considered harmful to kids.
Several major tech platforms have willingly implemented age verification systems or limited access to forums that might contain adult content. But they’ve lobbied against such measures in the US, and they’ve generally opposed foreign laws that might disproportionately impact US firms. Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a tech-funded nonprofit, has referred to Europe’s key competition and content moderation rules as “non-tariff attacks” and complained they unfairly target American businesses and “extract exorbitant fines.”
During tariff negotiations, Trump has been open about pushing countries to drop laws that he dislikes. The EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) and Digital Services Act (DSA) have arguably taken the brunt of the ire so far, as have digital services taxes, which Canada removed under pressure from Trump last month. But the OSA came up recently in the context of Trump’s own online platform, Truth Social, which could plausibly be subject to the law.
“If they censor me, you’re making a mistake”
At a July 28th press conference with Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, a reporter asked about “new powers” that could be used to censor sites like Truth Social. Starmer said the UK was not trying to censor people online, simply protect kids from harmful content, but Trump made a subtle threat in a lighthearted tone. “I cannot imagine him censoring Truth Social,” Trump said. “I only say good things about him and his country, so if they censor me, you’re making a mistake.”
Trump quickly touted his own online content regulation bill, the Take It Down Act, which has been similarly criticized as a potential vehicle for censorship. Tech companies’ objection to age verification and other child safety rules have been more muted than their criticism of the DMA and DSA in general. They may not see an existential threat in implementing age verification processes, compared with a potential antitrust investigation and breakup or the DSA’s huge fines for not addressing harmful content.
But the US hasn’t landed on a clear vision for internet safety regulation, creating a mismatch between its laws and those abroad. Mariana Olaizola Rosenblat, a policy advisor on technology and law at the NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights, says that in the “vacuum” of a US legislative standstill and trivial self-regulation, “foreign jurisdictions have been left with little choice but to act.”
That leaves room for tension, depending particularly on how heavily UK regulator Ofcom enforces the OSA — in other words, how much trouble it causes tech companies.
