EU sues countries that refuse to introduce internet censorship laws
Published May 8, 2025 at 9:13 AM
EU. The European Commission is now taking five member states to the European Court of Justice after they refused or failed to implement important parts of the controversial DSA law, which aims to systematically censor objectionable political views on social media.
The DSA Act
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The countries being sued are Poland, the Czech Republic, Spain, Cyprus and Portugal.
According to the Commission, countries have failed to designate or empower national supervisory authorities required to enforce the DSA – or have simply refused to do so.
"Member states are required to designate at least one responsible authority and give it the right to implement DSA," the Commission wrote in a statement according to Reuters.
Poland stands out by not having appointed a coordinator at all. The other four countries have appointed authorities, but have not given them the legal powers required by the regulation.
The DSA, which came into effect in 2022, is marketed as a tool to create a "safer and more transparent" internet environment, but critics say the law in practice functions as a censorship tool that stifles freedom of expression.
Social media platforms that violate the DSA law and fail to censor “racism” and “disinformation” and the like quickly enough risk fines of up to 6 percent of their global annual turnover. In case of repeated or serious violations, platforms can also be blocked from operating in the EU, similar to what works in China.
Among the critics are Elon Musk, Donald Trump and US Republican politicians, as well as EU parliamentarians from the AFD in Germany and the Sweden Democrats.
SD's Jessica Stegrud has warned that an over-focus on "disinformation" and "harmful content" risks silencing legitimate opinions and restricting freedom of expression. AfD's Maximilian Krah has called the law a way to stop "unconventional and creative ideas" from spreading online.
The Commission launched the formal procedure back in 2024 and has now taken the countries to the Court of Justice of the EU after they continued to refuse to comply with the requirements. If found guilty, they could face financial sanctions and be forced to implement the law with immediate effect