OPINION: Europe’s Blind Spot: Social Media Is a Strategic Threat

We cannot talk about strategic autonomy without including social media. Here are ten points:

1. Underrated but urgent: Europe needs its own social media platforms and better regulation of existing ones. This is not just a tech issue. It is strategic and existential.
2. If we talk about strategic autonomy, we must include social media. Europe’s enemies and their allies use these platforms to divide and weaken us. They have a near monopoly over what we use, and we barely respond.
3. We regulate foreign interference in traditional media. But we allow anything on social media. That makes no sense. The threat is just as real, and often even bigger.
4. RT is banned in Europe for being Russian state propaganda. So why do we think TikTok and X are safe? Their goals are the same: influence, division, control. We need to stop being naive.
5. China bans our platforms but expects us to allow TikTok, which harms our youth and floods our elections with disinformation. Elon Musk does the same with X. He wants influence over our elections and openly supports the far right.
6. We cannot let enemies or their allies control what Europeans see online. This is far too important. And we barely talk about it. It may be the most underrated issue of this decade.
7. Europe needs platforms that follow European laws and values. People would use them. But they must be viable. Not tiny apps with little funding that no one joins. That means regulation, protectionism, or public investment, just like we do for weapons. Social media is strategic too.
8. Better regulation does not mean censorship. It can mean transparency in ads and algorithms, ID checks to limit bots, and penalties for platforms that fail to protect users. None of these is perfect. All are better than what we have now.
9. Musk knows how powerful social media is. That is why he bought X. JD Vance knows it, too. That is why he threatens Europe for trying to regulate it. China does the same with TikTok.
10. If Europe is serious about strategic autonomy, social media must be part of the plan. This is strategic. This is existential. It is urgent. We are running out of time. Either we act now or stay pawns in games between Trump, Putin, and Xi.

The views expressed in this opinion article are the author’s and not necessarily those of Kyiv Post.