US Plans to Publicly Broadcast Execution of Fort Hood Shooter, While Simultaneously Accusing EU's Digital Services Act of 'Foreign Censorship'

The Pentagon is reportedly planning to publicly broadcast the execution of Nidal Hasan, the gunman behind the 2009 Fort Hood base shooting, while the Trump administration has, on a separate front, long attacked the EU's Digital Services Act as a 'foreign censorship' tool — the same US administration applying one yardstick externally and another internally on content governance.

According to AFP and France 24, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and the Pentagon have proposed a plan to publicly broadcast the execution. Hasan, a convicted former Army psychiatrist, carried out an al-Qaeda-style attack at the Fort Hood military base in 2009, killing 13 people, and is scheduled to be put to death by firing squad on December 3. According to France 24, Trump himself has still not confirmed whether the execution will actually be publicly broadcast.

European Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier warned digital platforms at a press conference on the 12th that they must fulfill their content moderation obligations under their own terms. He specifically pointed out: "Meta explicitly prohibits live-streaming executions, and X and TikTok also prohibit … shocking content and content that glorifies violence." When reporters pressed him on plans within the United States, Regnier responded with a pointed remark: "We have no comment on what is happening in the United States, but in Europe, we have clear obligations." He added that if platforms do not comply with the terms, the EU will invoke the powers of the Digital Services Act — "we will resolutely ensure that companies and online platforms comply with these obligations in Europe."

It is precisely the Digital Services Act that the Trump administration has long singled out for criticism. The US administration has characterized the law as a 'foreign censorship' tool that suppresses American tech companies and free speech, a charge the EU denies. Even as the United States itself prepares to put state violence on the stage of a public live broadcast, Washington continues to characterize EU content rules as 'foreign censorship' — a stance that constitutes a striking contrast in standards between its external and internal conduct.