U.S. politicians accuse the European Union of endangering freedom of expression with the Digital Services Act (DSA). However, media law expert Dr. Christian Ollig argues that the DSA actually protects users’ opinions from arbitrary censorship by platform operators. It also gives users a legal basis to assert their freedom of expression against large platform operators at the European level.
In his article for epd Medien, Ollig points out that the EU is establishing anything but a censorship system with the DSA. In fact, the law adheres to the constitutional principle of “in case of doubt, freedom of expression.” The US accusation of “censorship,” as outlined in the US National Security Strategy — “censorship of free speech and suppression of political opposition” — misunderstands the core of the European approach. The DSA does not require platforms to suppress certain political viewpoints.
According to Ollig, Article 14, paragraph 4, is a “core element” of the DSA with “revolutionary content.” Through this framework, the EU has limited the previously nearly unlimited sovereignty of platform operators and, for the first time, regulated digital communication spaces according to fundamental rights principles.
The deeper question in the recent transatlantic conflict, which also involved entry bans to the US for individuals such as Thierry Breton, the former EU Commissioner for the Internal Market who was responsible for drafting the DSA, is, according to Ollig: “Is it really about different concepts of freedom of expression, or is it about a shift in power in the digital space?”
This conflict is crucial for the future development of the internet as a space for democratic deliberation because it reveals a battle between different regulatory models.
Christian Ollig’s article is based on his dissertation “Europäische Plattformverfassungen. Die Konstitutionalisierung digitaler Kommunikationsräume durch Artikel 14 Absatz 4 Digital Services Act” [European Platform Constitutions: The Constitutionalization of Digital Communication Spaces through Article 14(4) of the Digital Services Act], for which he received the German Study Prize of the Körber Foundation last year.
His article “Im Zweifel für die Meinungsfreiheit. Wie der Digital Services Act Plattformen reguliert” [When in Doubt, For Freedom of Expression: How the Digital Services Act Regulates Platforms] as well as his dissertation were only published in German.