The Federal Trade Commission has fired the opening shot in a new regulatory war, ordering major tech platforms including Google, Meta, and Apple to reject European Union digital regulations that could compromise American free speech rights. The August 21 directive from FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson represents the Trump administration's most aggressive challenge yet to European tech oversight, setting up a collision course between competing visions of digital governance.
The regulatory cold war between Washington and Brussels just turned hot. FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson's blistering letter to tech giants represents more than bureaucratic posturing—it's a declaration that the Trump administration will weaponize antitrust law to protect what it sees as uniquely American digital rights.
The letter, obtained by WIRED, opens with constitutional fire: 'Online platforms have become central to public debate, and the pervasive online censorship in recent years has outraged the American people.' Ferguson directly targets what he calls 'a small Silicon Valley elite' that has allegedly silenced conservative voices at European regulators' behest.
The stakes couldn't be higher for the 13 companies receiving the directive, including Google, Meta, Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft. They now face an impossible choice: comply with European law and risk FTC enforcement, or ignore Brussels and potentially forfeit access to the world's largest regulatory market outside China.
'If companies censor Americans or weaken privacy and communications security at the request of a foreign power, I will not hesitate to enforce the law,' Ferguson wrote on X, leaving no ambiguity about his enforcement intentions. The threat carries real teeth under Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, which prohibits unfair or deceptive practices.
The timing is deliberate. Europe's Digital Services Act has already forced major platforms to implement content moderation systems, transparency reports, and risk assessments that European regulators say protect users from harmful content. But Ferguson frames these same measures as censorship tools that violate American constitutional principles.
End-to-end encryption has emerged as the technical battleground. The FTC letter specifically warns companies against weakening encryption to comply with foreign government requests, arguing this constitutes consumer deception. 'Companies that promise that their service is secure or encrypted, but fail to use end-to-end encryption where appropriate, may deceive consumers,' the letter states.
