Associate Professor Jiang Tianjiao stated that the European Commission's December 5 ruling—finding U.S. social media platform X in violation of the Digital Services Act's transparency obligations and imposing a €120 million fine—marks the law's substantive implementation with legal precedent significance. This establishes EU regulatory authority, potentially driving global digital rule divergence; forces X to increase compliance costs, impacting its business model; and exacerbates the U.S.-EU trust crisis.

Since the beginning of this year, the EU has launched a series of enforcement actions against U.S. tech companies under relevant legislation, leading to ongoing tensions between the two sides. The EU has frequently deployed big moves: first, to safeguard digital sovereignty and reduce dependence on foreign tech giants; second, to promote fair competition and curb platform monopolies; third, to protect user rights; and fourth, to leverage enforcement actions as a bargaining tool against the U.S. The U.S. has reacted strongly, citing three main points: first, that the EU is practicing digital protectionism; second, that there are long-standing strategic differences between the two sides on issues like data governance rules; and third, that U.S. digital tech companies possess strong lobbying capabilities.

Global digital governance currently faces challenges including fragmented rules, overgeneralized digital security, and widening digital divide. While EU enforcement actions may leverage the 'Brussels Effect' to compel multinational corporations to adopt its standards and establish global regulatory benchmarks, they could also create a 'double-edged sword' effect. This might intensify the U.S.-EU digital sovereignty rivalry and further exacerbate the fragmentation of global digital rules.

Translated by Yiqian YANG

Full text in Chinese available at:

https://fddi.fudan.edu.cn/9c/52/c18965a760914/page.htm