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State Department Orders Diplomats to Press for Changes to DSA Left Out of Trade Deal

By  |  August 7, 2025
European Commission, banking regulation, Basel III

One week after the U.S. reached a framework trade agreement with the European Union the State Department ordered diplomats in Europe to launch a lobbying campaign against the Digital Services Act, Reuters reported. The diplomatic cable, seen by Reuters, was signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and is dated August 4. It claims the DSA places “undue” restrictions on free expression and imposes costs on U.S. technology companies.

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    In what it characterizes as an “action request,” the cable tasks American diplomats with engaging regularly with EU governments and digital economy offices to convey U.S. concerns over the financial burden of the law on U.S. companies.

    “Posts should focus efforts to build host government and other stakeholder support to repeal and/or amend the DSA or related EU or national laws restricting expression online,” the cable said. It included talking points and specific suggestions for how the U.S. would like the law to be changed.

    The directive also instructed diplomats to investigate claims of censorship, defined as “any government efforts to suppress protected forms of expression or coerce private companies to do the same,” with particular focus to be given to incidents affecting U.S. citizens or companies.

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    “Posts should meet with government officials, businesses, civil society, and impacted individuals to report on censorship cases, including but not limited to those related to the DSA,” the cable said.

    Related: European Commission Investigates Adult Sites Over DSA Non-Compliance

    The Trump administration has been highly critical of the DSA and other EU technology regulations for months. In May, Rubio threatened a visa ban on people who “censor” speech by Americans, including American social media platforms, and indicated the policy could apply to foreign officials involved in regulating U.S. technology companies.

    Prior to reaching an agreement with the EU, U.S. trade negotiators sent a list of demands to Brussels including changes to the DSA and the AI Act, and a temporary exemption from enforcement of the Digital Markets Act for U.S. companies. The Europeans strongly opposed those measures, and they are not included in the framework deal reached last month.

    This week’s diplomatic cable suggests the U.S. hasn’t dropped the issue, however. The directive takes particular aim at the DSA’s definition of illegal content, which it called too expansive, and instructed diplomats to urge that it be narrowed, according to Reuters.

    Other suggestions include withdrawing or amending the DSA’s Code of Conduct on Disinformation, which the State Department said imposes “overly broad controls” on speech, and eliminating or reducing fines for non-compliance with content restrictions.

    The State Department declined Reuters’ request for comment. A spokesman for the European Commission declined to comment on the cable, but said freedom of expression is a fundamental right across the 27-nation bloc. “We firmly rebut any censorship claims. The censorship allegations relative to the DSA are completely unfounded,” the spokesperson said.