In the 21st century, social media has become the central nervous system of global communication. They shape political processes, influence culture, and change the very nature of identity. Back in the last century, the famous Canadian futurologist Marshall McLuhan prophetically wrote: “Media is an extension of the human nervous system”. Today, this statement is more than a metaphor. After all, it is obvious that through technological solutions, social networks form a picture of the world that governs society. But the European public space in the digital dimension is not Europe. More than 80% of social media activity on the continent goes through US-based platforms: Meta (Facebook, Instagram), Alphabet (YouTube), X (Twitter). Such digital dependence endangers not only information security, but also Europe’s political and cultural autonomy.
Every year it becomes more and more obvious: Europe desperately needs to build its own sovereign social media ecosystem. Not to “competition for competition’s sake,” but to have the tools to counter disinformation, protect democratic integrity, preserve linguistic and cultural diversity — and most importantly, take control back from the hands of American corporations. After all, it is not just about technical independence – it is about the sovereignty of Europe in the 21st century.
On whose nerves does Europe live?
Europe is at the epicenter of the new colonization — the digital one. While the technological cold war between the US, China and other players has already turned data into a strategic weapon of the 21st century, the European continent remains defenseless: not a sovereign, but a vassal in virtual space. American platforms don’t just dominate—they control critical digital infrastructure. Social networks, search engines, information exchange — all this has been sold to overseas corporations. A sad statistic: 92% of European governments communicate with citizens via Facebook. And Google, which actually monopolized the search, decides what information millions of Europeans have access to, and what will be hidden behind the veil of algorithms.
This technological dependence has already become a channel for political pressure. American digital giants not only moderate, but also impose a worldview: they censor pro-European messages, instead promoting anti-European narratives that benefit the US. In this struggle, Europe is losing not only informational control, but also part of its democracy.
Infographic: IA “FACT”
The threat of external intervention: disinformation as a geopolitical weapon
The 2016 Brexit referendum was a wake-up call for Europe: it showed how vulnerable European society can be to manipulation from across the ocean. In particular, the US company Cambridge Analytica illegally collected the data of 87 million Facebook users — including millions of Europeans — and used it for targeted advertising aimed at inciting division and anti-European sentiment. Leaks of internal documents have shown that the campaigns were planned not only to influence voters, but also to undermine unity within the EU.
Fake narratives about falsification of elections, which were actively spread by American politicians on Twitter and Facebook, have massively infiltrated European information spaces. In Germany, the Querdenker movement used these messages to discredit government measures during the pandemic. In other countries, similar groups, often supported by billionaires from the United States, spread unsubstantiated accusations of “election conspiracies” – and thereby contributed to the radicalization of societies.
It is necessary to clearly understand: American digital platforms are not optimized for the truth, but for the attraction of the audience and the interests of their owners. A case in point is the 2022 presidential campaign in France. YouTube heavily promoted a video featuring far-right candidate Eric Zemmour, despite his low polling support. The platform’s algorithm disproportionately increased its visibility. Researchers found that 60% of French-language election content on YouTube contained misinformation — and much of that content was algorithmically boosted.
When Billionaires Rule the Mind: The Oligarchic Threat from Silicon Valley
The digital space of Europe is increasingly becoming an instrument of influence not of states, but of super-powerful private players — primarily American billionaires. This is a new form of oligarchic control: platforms instead of tanks, algorithms instead of military operations. Their goal is not only commercial, but also political.
The example of Elon Musk, who after acquiring Twitter (now X) unblocked more than 62,000 accounts, a significant part of which belongs to extremists, conspiracists, and propagandists of violence, became a good example. Among them are well-known figures of the German far-right scene, in particular Nikolai Nerling, who spread conspiracy theories about COVID-19 and vaccination. But it’s not just about words: some of the “rehabilitated” accounts belong to people who have already committed serious crimes in Europe or openly encouraged them, including rape, murder or inciting hatred against vulnerable groups.
This is not an isolated case. Meta, the company that owns Facebook and Instagram, consistently ignores European content moderation laws. In 2023, the European Commission formally accused Meta of being unable or unwilling to stem the tide of disinformation campaigns spreading on its platforms.
Even more disturbing is the fact that some of these campaigns had a clear political undertone and funding from American billionaires. Fakes directed against European politicians and governments spread in social networks. Some of them directly called for violence: for example, for the physical removal of individual officials or the overthrow of the legitimate governments of EU countries.
All of this indicates that major American platforms are increasingly functioning as an extension of US corporate and geopolitical influence rather than a neutral digital environment. Their priority task is not the protection of democracy, not the maintenance of stability, but the preservation of profits and political influence, which they receive through control over the public sphere of Europe.
European rules vs American surveillance: an unequal game
Europe has declared digital rights as part of its democratic identity. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) recognizes privacy as a fundamental right. But this right is devalued when the players who dominate the European market are subject not to European laws, but to US laws. In particular, the scandalous CLOUD Act gives American intelligence services access to any data stored on servers controlled by American companies — regardless of where these servers are physically located.
In 2022, Meta was fined by the European Data Protection Board for illegally transferring users’ personal information from the EU to US servers. This is a direct threat to sovereignty in the digital space. Even after the adoption of the new EU-US Data Privacy Framework, leading experts warn that Europeans’ data will continue to be vulnerable to American surveillance by the NSA and other intelligence agencies. This means: as long as our personal correspondence, searches and digital profiles are under the jurisdiction of the United States, there is no need to talk about independence.
Giants that suck up billions
The digital presence of American platforms is not just a matter of control, but also of large-scale economic exhaustion of Europe. In 2022, Meta received 4.3 billion euros in revenue in the European market. Google, Apple and other tech giants hide profits offshore, depriving European states of funds that could be invested in their own technologies, digital education or the development of local platforms. Paradox: Europeans create added value, while revenues flow overseas. This is no longer just “injustice” – it is digital neocolonialism.
Destruction of cultural wealth under the sauce of likes
Social networks have become a window to the world. But this window turned out to be one-sided. More than 70% of all trends in social networks are of American origin. This forms the idea of ”normality” and “taste” according to the models of Hollywood, Silicon Valley and the White House. European languages, regional accents, minorities – everything that does not fit into the globalized picture – is automatically marginalized.
Instagram promotes American beauty standards, YouTube promotes English-speaking influencers, and TikTok promotes content that aligns with algorithmically beneficial behavior. Journalists from Vilnius, influencers from Bratislava or artists from Lyon cannot compete on equal terms with TikTok stars from Texas. This is not just a problem of coverage – it is the loss of cultural diversity, pressure on linguistic heritage, and the distortion of collective identity.
Regulation that is overdue
Who is responsible when social media becomes a tool of incitement? Today, it is no longer enough to simply admit that social networks have an impact. It must be admitted: this influence is controlled. And not Europe. And then to act. Because as long as the digital public sphere remains “on rent” from private oligarchs from overseas, it becomes increasingly difficult to talk about a full-fledged democracy in Europe.
It is clear that the European Union does not stand aside. It reacts, but is this reaction symmetrical? With the adoption of the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Markets Act (DMA), Brussels is trying to impose transparency, accountability and control on the distribution of harmful content on platforms. But even these tools have limited power when the technological infrastructure and key algorithms remain owned by private companies based outside the EU.
The fight against disinformation cannot be limited to content regulation — it is about strategic autonomy in the digital ecosystem itself. As experts point out, the lack of European social platforms capable of competing with giants like Meta or Google creates a fundamental gap: even the best legal norms lose their effectiveness if there are no communication channels of their own.
As a result, Europe is forced to play by someone else’s rules on someone else’s field. And this is a direct threat to democratic stability, information security and cultural sovereignty.
The only way out is the creation of sovereign European digital platforms. Search engines, social networks, data centers — everything that will ensure Europe’s technological independence and protect its interests in the economy, security, and information space. Because in the 21st century, real sovereignty is not only borders, but also control over data.
