The founder and CEO of “Hate Aid” Anna-Lena von Hodenberg, is accusing the United States of orchestrating a form of opinion manipulation within the digital sphere, alleging a concerted effort to control the flow of information through major tech platforms. In an interview with the Frankfurter Rundschau, von Hodenberg asserted that the U.S. government is leveraging its relationships with technology giants to disseminate propaganda unfiltered, a practice she describes as rife with disinformation and digital violence.
“This represents an unholy alliance between the U.S. government and these corporations” von Hodenberg stated, “and ultimately, in my view, it amounts to a form of enforced conformity.
The criticism follows an entry ban imposed on von Hodenberg and her co-CEO, Josephine Ballon, shortly before Christmas. Von Hodenberg characterized the ban as a targeted intimidation tactic, emphasizing that “they always attack the people, not the institutions”. This, she claims, is a recurring pattern in her organization’s work, which focuses on combating online hate speech and advocating for stricter regulation of digital platforms.
Von Hodenberg directly links the U.S. action to the European Union’s recent enforcement of the Digital Services Act. The EU Commission levied its first-ever penalty against Elon Musk’s platform, X, in early December, prompting what von Hodenberg believes is a repressive retaliatory measure from Washington.
“We must not abandon our rule of law and our laws simply because a U.S. president threatens us” she argued, highlighting concerns about the potential for U.S. influence to undermine European legal frameworks. The incident raises broader questions about the power dynamics between the U.S. and the EU concerning digital governance and whether Washington is increasingly willing to exert pressure to shape regulatory outcomes that serve its interests, even at the expense of principles of democratic accountability and free expression. The allegations, if substantiated, suggest a worrying trend toward prioritizing political agendas over the independent operation of online platforms and the protection of fundamental rights.
