By Al Ahed Staff, Agencies
European leaders including Emmanuel Macron have accused Washington of “coercion and intimidation”, after the US imposed a visa ban on five prominent European figures who have been at heart of the campaign to introduce laws regulating American tech companies.
The visa bans were imposed on Tuesday on Thierry Breton, the former EU commissioner and one of the architects of the bloc’s Digital Services Act [DSA], and four anti-disinformation campaigners, including two in Germany and two in the UK.
The other individuals targeted were Imran Ahmed, the British chief executive of the US-based Center for Countering Digital Hate; Anna-Lena von Hodenberg and Josephine Ballon of the German non-profit HateAid; and Clare Melford, co-founder of the Global Disinformation Index.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio justified the visa bans, claiming European ideologues pressured American platforms to suppress views they oppose.
Germany, Spain, the UK and a chorus of EU officials joined the French president in condemning the move, with Brussels signalling it could “respond swiftly and decisively” against the “unjustified measures”.
The DSA is seen by Washington as a form of censorship while European leaders say the regulations are necessary to control hate speech, but the row threatens to become part of a far wider existing cultural and political conflict between Donald Trump’s administration and Europe.
Artificial intelligence and digital technologies were always likely to become a major theatre of confrontation between the US and Europe, as these technologies become ever more central to wielding power.
Macron condemned the visa ban, calling it “intimidation and coercion aimed at undermining European digital sovereignty.” He stressed that EU digital regulations, adopted through a democratic process, apply within Europe to ensure fair competition and are “not meant to be determined outside Europe.”
He later added he had spoken to Breton, who is French, and had thanked him for his work. “We will not give up, and we will protect Europe’s independence and the freedom of Europeans,” Macron said.
The French foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, said: “The peoples of Europe are free and sovereign and cannot let the rules governing their digital space be imposed by others upon them.”
Breton, former French finance minister and EU internal market commissioner, questioned, “Is McCarthy’s witch-hunt back?” He added that 90% of the European Parliament and all 27 member states voted for the DSA, telling the US, “Censorship isn’t where you think it is.”
EU Commission President von der Leyen vowed to protect free speech, with a spokesperson pledging swift action to defend Europe’s regulatory autonomy.
In the UK, the government said it was “fully committed” to upholding free speech.
The 2022 EU law requires major digital platforms to tackle illegal content, hate speech, and election-related disinformation.
Elon Musk’s X platform was fined €120m over transparency violations, including misleading users about verification and researcher access.
Washington condemned the EU for “undue” restrictions, while EU executive Stephane Sejourne, Breton’s successor, declared, “No sanction will silence the sovereignty of the European peoples.”
Outlining the bans on Tuesday, US undersecretary for public diplomacy, Sarah Rogers, classified Breton as a “mastermind” of the DSA.
Germany’s justice ministry voiced “support and solidarity” for the two campaigners, calling the visa bans unacceptable, while Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul stressed, “The DSA was democratically adopted by the EU for the EU – it does not have extraterritorial effect.”
Spain’s foreign ministry condemned the US measures, saying a safe digital space is “a fundamental value for democracy in Europe” and insisting, “The rules… in Germany and in Europe are not decided in Washington.”
MEP and member of the German ruling CDU, Dennis Radtke criticized the US stance, saying, “Where exactly has an opinion been suppressed?… It’s only about business here and the fight against the rule of law.”
French MEP Raphael Glucksmann told Rubio, “We are not a colony of the United States… This scandalous sanction against Thierry Breton pays tribute to his fight for our sovereignty. We will continue it together. To the end.”
The dispute highlights US-Europe tensions, following August sanctions on French ICC judge Nicolas Yann Guillou.
Former French diplomat Michel Duclos criticized the US, saying, “Dmitriev celebrated in Miami, Breton denied US visa: Europe is becoming the new Russia for Washington… but worse.”
German Journalists’ Association chair Mika Beuster condemned the bans, calling them “censorship in its purest form… previously only known from autocratic regimes.”
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