IRVINE, Calif. (Sept. 4, 2025) — On Sept. 3, UC Irvine School of Law Clinical Professor David Kaye testified before the House Judiciary Committee in a hearing titled, “Europe’s Threat to American Speech and Innovation.” The hearing considered whether recent European and British laws governing online expression and digital markets may affect Americans’ free speech rights and innovation. View a recording of the hearing.
“The recent adoption of landmark legislation by the European Union, the Digital Services Act in particular, provides a new way of thinking about the power of big tech firms over the global information environment,” Professor Kaye noted. “In my testimony, I wanted to clarify for lawmakers the purpose of these new laws, which are not perfect, while also emphasizing the ways in which federal government actions can themselves be characterized as censorship.”
During the hearing, committee members considered the impact of the United Kingdom’s Online Safety Act (OSA) and the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA), as well as new regulatory frameworks such as the UK’s Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act (DMCC) and the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA).
Prof. Kaye joined fellow witnesses The Rt. Hon. Nigel Farage, Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom; Lorcán Price, Barrister and Legal Counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom International; and Morgan Reed, President of The App Association.
In his written testimony, Prof. Kaye emphasized that censorship — whether abroad or in the United States — poses a profound threat to human rights, democratic accountability, and public access to information. Drawing on his experience as a former United Nations Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Opinion and Expression, he warned that the most urgent threats to free speech now stem from within the United States, where government actions have silenced scientists, pressured media, and sought to restrict dissent. Prof. Kaye explained that while Europe’s regulatory efforts such as the United Kingdom’s Online Safety Act (OSA) and the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA) are imperfect, they aim to check the unaccountable and outsize power of large technology companies rather than impose new censorship. Prof. Kaye urged lawmakers to confront online harms and domestic attacks on free expression with integrity, reminding them that protecting speech also means safeguarding the public’s right to information essential for democracy and innovation. Read Prof. Kaye’s full written testimony.
In addition to directing the International Justice Clinic, Professor Kaye teaches public international law and international human rights law at UC Irvine Law. A global leader on freedom of expression, he served as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression from 2014 to 2020. Most recently, he was a Fulbright Scholar in Sweden, serving as a Distinguished Scholar in Public International Law at Lund University’s School of Law and its Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law.
Press Releases and Media Coverage:
- UC Irvine Law International Justice Clinic: House Judiciary Hearing on European . . . Censorship
- POLITICO: Jordan escalates global tech argument, with Farage’s help
- Cleveland.com: House hearing clash: Is free speech threatened more by Europe or Trump?
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