The European Union, France, and Germany have condemned the US visa bans for European citizens fighting online hate and disinformation. On Wednesday, Brussels stated that it could "react quickly and decisively" to "unjustified measures," UNN reports, citing Reuters.
Details
The administration of US President Donald Trump on Tuesday imposed visa bans on five European citizens, including former EU Commissioner from France Thierry Breton, whom it accuses of working to censor free speech or unfairly targeting American tech giants with overly burdensome regulation.
A spokesperson for the European Commission stated that it "strongly condemns the US decision," adding:
Freedom of speech is a fundamental right in Europe and a shared core value with the United States across the democratic world.
The visa bans are likely to exacerbate growing disagreements between Washington and some European capitals on issues such as freedom of speech, defense, immigration, far-right politics, trade, and the war between Russia and Ukraine, the publication notes.
They come just weeks after a US National Security Strategy document warned that Europe faces "civilizational erasure" and must change course if it wants to remain a reliable US ally.
Breton was one of the architects of the EU's Digital Services Act, a landmark piece of legislation aimed at improving internet safety, which has irritated American officials.
They were particularly outraged by Brussels' sanctions earlier this month against Elon Musk's X platform, which was fined 120 million euros for violating rules for online content. Musk and Breton have often argued online about EU tech regulation, with Musk calling him "Europe's tyrant."
EU fined Elon Musk's X company 120 million euros05.12.25, 13:54 • [views_3295]
According to US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy Sarah Rogers, the bans also targeted Imran Ahmed, the British CEO of the US-based Center for Countering Digital Hate; Anna-Lena von Hodenberg and Josephine Ballon from the German non-profit organization HateAid; and Claire Melford, co-founder of the Global Disinformation Index.
The EU's DSA aims to make the online environment safer, partly by encouraging tech giants to do more to combat illegal content, including hate speech and child sexual abuse material.
Washington stated that the EU is imposing "unjustified" restrictions on freedom of speech in its efforts to combat hate speech, disinformation, and illegal use of information, and that the DSA unfairly targets US tech giants and US citizens.
A spokesperson for the European Commission stated that the EU has the right to regulate economic activity and requested more information from Washington regarding these measures.
If necessary, we will react quickly and decisively to protect our regulatory autonomy from unjustified measures.
French President Emmanuel Macron stated:
These measures are intimidation and coercion aimed at undermining European digital sovereignty.
On X, he indicated that the DSA was approved within a democratic process and exists "to ensure fair competition between platforms, without targeting any third country, and to ensure that what is illegal offline is also illegal online."
Breton, a former French finance minister and European Commissioner for the Internal Market from 2019 to 2024, was the most prominent target.
"Has McCarthy's witch hunt returned?" he wrote on X.
"A reminder: 90% of the European Parliament – our democratically elected body – and all 27 member states unanimously voted for the DSA. To our American friends: censorship is not where you think it is," he noted.
The German Ministry of Justice stated that the two German activists have the government's "support and solidarity," and that the visa bans against them are unacceptable, adding that HateAid supports people affected by illegal online hate speech.
"Anyone who calls this censorship distorts our constitutional system," the statement reads. "The rules by which we want to live in the digital space of Germany and Europe are not determined in Washington."
A spokesperson for the Global Disinformation Index called the visa bans "an authoritarian attack on free speech and a blatant act of state censorship."
"The Trump administration is once again using the full weight of the federal government to intimidate, censor, and silence voices they disagree with," they said. "Their actions today are immoral, illegal, and un-American."
Addition
Breton is not the first Frenchman to be sanctioned by the Trump administration. In August, Washington sanctioned French judge Nicolas Yann Guillou, who is part of the International Criminal Court, for the tribunal's prosecution of Israeli leaders and a past decision to investigate the activities of American officials.