Should Europe Regulate American Tech Companies?

While American lawmakers are still mostly talking about regulating the tech industry, their counterparts in Europe have been far more active. From consumer privacy protections and content moderation to antitrust enforcement, the European Union has introduced a host of new rules aimed at Silicon Valley’s biggest companies, and at the business practices that enabled them to amass so much power. Investigations have multiplied, as have the fines.

While some observers cheer on these measures as a necessary corrective to Silicon Valley’s excesses, others argue that European regulations are overly burdensome, and may have even more harmful, unintended effects. (Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg put forth this critique in a wide-ranging speech at Georgetown University last week.)

Intelligence Squared US, the long-running public radio program, has gathered four experts to debate this very issue tonight. Following the show’s usual format, the group will split up and take sides over a motion, in this case that “Europe has declared war on American tech companies.” Arguing for the motion are Roslyn Layton, a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, and TechFreedom’s Berin Szóka. Opposing them are former MEP Marietje Schaake, now at Stanford’s Cyber Policy Center, and Ramesh Srinivasan, director of the UC Digital Cultures Lab in Los Angeles.

Watch the debate here: