Does Europe Need Its Own Social Media Platforms?

Yes. And the fact that we’re still asking the question is half the problem.

Europe — the continent that gave us the Enlightenment, the printing press, and half of modern philosophy — is still renting its digital public square from American billionaires. It’s like watching Voltaire tweet under Elon Musk’s moderation policies. Irony? Try tragedy.

The Playground Is American. The Rules Are, Too.

Let’s call it what it is. Europe is digitally colonized.

The major platforms — Facebook, Twitter (now X), Instagram, YouTube, TikTok (and yes, we’ll get to China) — are not just American (or Chinese) exports. They are cultural pipelines, algorithms baked with assumptions about free speech, profit, and engagement that do not always align with European democratic values or legal traditions.

The U.S. First Amendment is not European law. Nor should it be. But here we are — Germans, Danes, Italians — arguing with American moderators about hate speech, disinformation, and election integrity. It’s like trying to debate Kant in a Vegas casino.

Digital Sovereignty: A Phrase Europe Loves, But Hasn’t Earned

EU politicians love the term “digital sovereignty.” It sounds bold. Forward-looking. Technocratic. But where is the actual infrastructure? Where is the homegrown platform that can rival Meta? Where’s the European equivalent of…