Why Ireland is at the Center of the Transatlantic Battle Over Digital Regulation

Coimisiún na Meán’s (CnaM) neat three-storey office in a leafy corner of Dublin gives little hint that the 200 public servants inside are now at the center of a transatlantic political fight. The Irish media regulator, less than three years old, is battling 12 lawsuits from international tech companies.

Earlier this month, it was singled out by the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee for putting “censorship pressure” and “harassing” US tech platforms as part of a “global campaign to censor speech.” EU officials have been threatened, with some peers facing visa restrictions and potential sanctions by the US State Department. In this context, the Irish regulator is under heightened scrutiny from Brussels and beyond, amid concerns about any sign of Irish leniency toward the tech companies it is tasked with regulating under the Digital Services Act (DSA).

Perhaps we can sympathize with the US Judiciary Committee’s bafflement when it declares that “for some reason, Ireland’s media regulator, the Coimisiún na Meán, is one of the most powerful in the world.”