Yesterday, on 3 February 2026, the United States House Committee on the Judiciary launched the report: "The Foreign Censorship Threat, Part II: Europe’s Decade-Long Campaign to Censor the Global Internet and How It Harms American Speech in the United States". In the report Bits of Freedom and Justice for Prosperity, among others, are called "censorous ngo's". In response, Bits of Freedom and Justice for Prosperity are issuing the following statement.

What's going on?

In 2025, the United States House Committee on the Judicial published a reportFull report (PDF) meant to demonstrate that the Digital Services Act (DSA) is a European censorship tool. US diplomatsReuters.com in Europe were instructed to push back against the DSA and in January this year the US imposed a visa ban on five European citizensPolitico.eu due to their involvement in the DSA: former Commissioner Thierry Breton and four NGO staff members. Macron referred to the decision as "coercion aimed at undermining European digital sovereignty."Euronews.com

When the European Commission published its fine for X for non-compliance with DSA transparency requirements, the Committee on the Judicial called the decision a "secret [...] censorship order"Through a statement on X. and promised: "The Committee will continue investigating to protect American innovation and American speech from foreign censors."

Yesterday, on 3 February 2026, the House Committee published its second reportFull report (PDF): "The Foreign Censorship Threat, Part II: Europe’s Decade-Long Campaign to Censor the Global Internet and How It Harms American Speech in the United States". Among other things, the report makes mention of the round table that the Dutch Authority for Consumer and Market, responsible for overseeing the DSA in the Netherlands, organised in the run up to parliamentary elections late last year. The report frames the meeting as an attempt to censor and calls the NGOs present, including Bits of Freedom and Justice for Prosperity, "censorous". The report does not offer any further explanation.

Attack on our democratic rule of law

The report is a deliberate attack on our democratic rule of law, on how we organise, how we make agreements and how we enforce those agreements. Th US does this by undermining the legitimacy of the legislator, regulators and European civil society. This is pure harassment and undermines our autonomy; we must be able to decide ourselves how to organise our society. If US companies want to operate in Europe, they have to comply with our legislation. The United States are entitled to their opinions, but actively interfering goes too far. If we dance to the US' tune, citizens will pay the price: less transparency, more (political) manipulation on platforms and less protection against doxxing and hate campaigns.

The focus on the Digital Services Act also shows how powerful this law is, as a means to curb Big Tech. It also shows the need for rapid enforcement. Moreover, the dominance of American technology in our society shows how vulnerable we are to foreign interference and censorship and how our autonomy is at stake.

What should happen now?

It is important that the European Union continues to speak out against intimidation that undermines our democratic processes. The European Commission must keep its back straight and uphold the law. Authorities should continue or even intensify enforcement. It is also important to ensure that authorities are mindful of the increased threat level surrounding DSA enforcement and protect civil society organisations, which are crucial to enforcement, against risks. Finally, Europe must reduce its dependency on US technology.

As described above, five sanctions have already been imposed through entry bans (visa measures) against Europeans involved in DSA enforcement and research and criticism of platform power. It shows that framing around 'censorship' can easily turn into threats and personal repercussions. We call on the European Commission and the Dutch government to now visibly push back and show up for authorities, civil servants and civil society organisations.