EU’s Vestager Says Harmful Content ‘Has Role to Play’ in Debate

The European Union’s antitrust chief said the bloc’s upcoming digital rules are being designed to protect freedom of speech on platforms like Facebook while targeting harmful online content.

“I think it’s really important to have debates where things can be maybe hurtful and difficult but, if it’s not illegal, you have the freedom to express yourself also in ways that people do not appreciate,” Margrethe Vestager said in an interview with Bloomberg Television.

She said the Digital Services Act, which EU institutions are hammering out for 2022, will help address this “grey zone,” but emphasized that offensive material “has ...