Federal Trade Commission (FTC) chair Andrew Ferguson fired off a letter to 13 of America’s biggest tech companies — including Meta (META), Apple (AAPL), Alphabet (GOOG), Amazon (AMZN), and Microsoft (MSFT) — warning them not to cave to Europe’s Digital Services Act.
In the letter, Ferguson invoked the First Amendment, saying Americans “rightly hold dear” their freedom of expression.
He blasted what he called “pervasive online censorship in recent years” and claimed President Trump “has put a swift end to the weaponization of the federal government against Americans and their freedoms.”
But Ferguson went further, accusing “foreign governments” of posing “emerging and ongoing threats to the free exchange of ideas.”
It’s almost unheard of for a U.S. administration to openly accuse the European Union of endangering American freedoms, but Trump has never shied from clashing with historic allies, whether on tariffs or tech regulation.
Encryption in the crosshairs
Ferguson warned that attempts by foreign regulators to “weaken end-to-end encryption” could expose Americans to “surveillance by foreign governments and an increased risk of identity theft and fraud.”
The comments appear to reference the EU’s GDPR privacy framework, which U.S. critics have argued can push companies toward weaker security standards.
“The anti-encryption policies of foreign governments might be causing companies to weaken data security measures and other technological means for Americans to vindicate their right to anonymous and private speech,” Ferguson wrote.
He doubled down in a post on X, saying, “If any of these companies censor Americans or weaken the privacy and security of their communications at the behest of a foreign power, I will not hesitate to enforce the law against them.”
Competition battles still rage
While Washington and Brussels may clash over speech, both sides agree on reining in Big Tech’s dominance.
The FTC is pressing an antitrust case against Amazon, accusing the company of running an illegal monopoly by blocking sellers from offering cheaper prices elsewhere. That trial is slated for October 2026.
The agency has also taken Meta to court over its Instagram acquisition. The trial wrapped up in May, though the judge has yet to deliver a verdict.
Across the Atlantic, Apple was fined earlier this year for breaching the EU’s Digital Markets Act, accused of blocking developers from informing customers about cheaper offers outside its App Store.
Ferguson, who long criticized social platforms for what he called “Orwellian” content bans, is now framing Europe’s regulatory push as a direct threat to American liberties. That marks a stark shift: instead of treating the EU as a partner in digital governance, Trump’s FTC is painting Brussels as a danger to U.S. citizens’ rights.
For Big Tech, the message is clear: comply with European rules at your own risk.
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