Trump 2.0: How Big Tech, social media, and European tech could change

Many Big Tech leaders congratulated Donald Trump on his election win this week, with the incoming US president likely to impact industry regulation.

While it’s still unclear exactly how regulatory pressure on the companies will change, experts expect Trump’s second administration to influence social media, European tech, and cryptocurrencies.

Euronews Next takes a look at what we could expect for the tech sector in the US and Europe in the coming four years. 

Elon Musk and Big Tech

SpaceX, Tesla, and X boss Elon Musk has been the most vocal Trump supporter in tech even before the election result was announced. 

In August, Trump said he “certainly would” name Musk to a cabinet or advisory role if elected, adding that the billionaire was “a brilliant guy”. Whether that would happen is unclear as there may be legal implications but, Musk will likely have the president-elect’s ear. 

In his victory speech, Trump said “Let me tell you, we have a new star… a star is born – Elon. He’s an amazing guy”.

But when it comes to other Big Tech companies, such as the likes of Google and Meta, under Trump “we can expect a highly selective approach to dealing with the tech giants,” said Max von Thun, director of Europe and transatlantic partnerships at the Brussels-based Open Markets Institute.

“Big Tech corporations seen as ‘woke’ or ‘liberal’ like Google or Meta will continue to face regulatory pressure, while others explicitly allied with or at least tacitly supportive of the administration – in particular, Musk’s X and to a lesser extent Bezos’ Amazon – may escape scrutiny”.

He also said that nationalistic arguments portraying the tech giants as US “national champions” in need of government protection would also have more sway under a Trump administration.

President Joe Biden tried to crack down on Big Tech, with his Justice Department launching antitrust investigations into Amazon, Apple, Meta, and Microsoft. Google also has an antitrust case from the previous Trump administration. 

While it is unclear if the Trump administration will continue this track, there will be “major change” at the antitrust body the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and merger and acquisition activity should increase, said US-based venture capitalist and political strategist, Bradley Tusk.

“Breaking up the monopolies of big tech is where the far left and far right agree so it’s possible that the prosecutions of Google, Meta, and Amazon continue as is,” he told Euronews Next. 

Social media

As well as backing Musk as a person, Trump is likely to support Musk’s endeavours on  X as well as those of his own on Truth Social “to keep social media platforms less regulated and with little liability for their operators, from a content standpoint,” said Mark Weinstein, tech entrepreneur and author of “Restoring Our Sanity Online”. 

“Musk’s political views, as well as his stance on free speech and minimal moderation on X, align closely with those of Trump,” he told Euronews Next. 

Trump is likely to keep the Section 230 bill, which says that internet platforms hosting third-party content are not liable for what those third parties post but could advance bipartisan US tech legislation. 

The American Privacy Rights Act (APRA) and the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) are bills that “have strong support from both Republicans and Democrats in Congress and could become crowning achievements of a new Trump administration,” Weinstein said. 

“As Trump looks to cement his legacy, he may see a chance to leave a lasting impact through measures that reduce biased moderation, strengthen privacy rights, and protect kids online,” he added.

‘A wake-up call’ for European tech

In his 2016 presidential election campaign, Trump brought back the political agenda “America First” to emphasise the US’s withdrawal from international treaties and organisations.

That policy means that “Europe will have to unite, and rely on itself to preserve its sovereignty,” said Marianne Tordeux Bitker, director of public affairs at the European start-up association France Digitale. 

“In concrete terms, faced with a Donald Trump who will play the protectionist game, we will have to react and implement financial, economic, and regulatory means that we did not allow ourselves to use until today,” she added. 

“We are thinking, for example, of the massive financing of disruptive technologies (AI, quantum) which play a key role in safeguarding our interests, particularly our military interests. We are also thinking of European preference in public procurement, in strategic areas such as innovation”.

As for European regulators, a Trump administration will be highly antagonistic towards Europe’s ongoing efforts to rein in and govern Big Tech monopolies, said von Thun.

“Trump has already threatened to retaliate against the EU for forcing Apple to pay back billions in illegal tax benefits, and he will likely respond to other measures targeting Big Tech firms – however justified – in a similar vein,” he said. 

However, Trump could also seek to exploit Europe’s dependence on US tech giants to gain geopolitical leverage, be this in trade negotiations or security matters, von Thun said. 

“This should be a huge wake-up call for Europe, which needs to finally put its money where its mouth is when it comes to so-called ‘strategic autonomy’”.

On crypto

Another place where Trump could shape regulation is cryptocurrency, which he has made a massive U-turn on. 

During his 2016 presidency, Trump deemed crypto a “scam” and a “disaster waiting to happen”. But in the latest presidential campaign, the Republican Party adopted a platform that supports crypto innovation. 

“Republicans will end Democrats’ unlawful and un-American crypto crackdown and oppose the creation of a Central Bank Digital Currency,” according to the document. 

“We will defend the right to mine Bitcoin, and ensure every American has the right to self-custody of their digital assets, and transact free from government surveillance and control”.

Trump’s 2024 win is “very good news for crypto,” said the political analyst Tusk. 

He said it was highly possible that crypto would be regulated going forward by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as a commodity rather than as a security by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

“Because crypto is so new and there are so few laws on the books, Trump has a lot of latitude here,” Tusk said.