The U.S. State Department has intensified its criticism of Europe’s new internet regulations, calling the European Union’s Digital Services Act “Orwellian” and warning that its content-moderation rules threaten free speech and technological innovation. A recent House Judiciary Committee report argues that the DSA’s ‘trusted flaggers’ and voluntary ‘codes of conduct’ effectively coerce platforms into removing legal content deemed “misinformation,” a practice U.S. officials say could limit what American users can publish or read online. Washington is also targeting the United Kingdom’s Online Safety Act, whose latest provisions require large platforms and pornography sites to verify users’ ages. Since the rules took effect on 25 July, sites such as PornHub and RedTube have begun blocking unverified U.K. visitors, while Spotify, Reddit and X have introduced their own age-checks. A U.K. High Court judge last week categorised Wikipedia as a “category one” service, exposing it to similar verification duties. Critics, including Vice President JD Vance and House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan, contend the measures chill expression and create onerous compliance costs for U.S. companies. European officials defend the laws as necessary to curb child exploitation, hate speech and disinformation, but senior members of the Trump administration say they will resist any attempt to export the approach to the United States. The dispute adds a new point of tension to trans-Atlantic digital policy just as Washington and London pursue broader trade talks.