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Washington has barred former EU Commissioner Thierry Breton and four others from entering the country over allegations of “censorship” and coercion on US social media platforms.
The visa ban on five Europeans followed a campaign of criticism and threats by the Trump administration over the EU’s Digital Services Act, which forces big tech companies to more aggressively regulate content on their platforms, and the Digital Markets Act, which aims to curb their power.
“For too long, ideologues in Europe have led organized efforts to force American forums to punish American viewpoints they oppose,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Twitter.
He said, “The United States is taking steps to prevent key figures of the global censorship-industrial complex from entering the United States. We are ready and willing to expand this list if others do not change their ways.”
Breton was the EU Commissioner for Internal Markets from 2019 to 2024. US Under Secretary of State Sarah Rogers said he was being sanctioned as the mastermind of the Digital Services Act and for his behavior in telling X boss Elon Musk that he needed to follow rules on illegal content.
Brattain responded by asking whether the 1950s-era American “witch-hunt” against suspected communists had returned.
The European Commission said it “strongly condemns” the US travel ban and requested clarification from Washington. It vowed to “respond swiftly and decisively to protect our regulatory autonomy against unfair measures”.
It states, “The EU is an open, rules-based single market, with the sovereign right to regulate economic activity in line with our democratic values and international commitments.”
French President Emmanuel Macron said the ban was an act of “intimidation” against European digital sovereignty.
The Digital Regulation “was adopted by the European Parliament and the Council at the end of a democratic and sovereign process. It applies to Europe without targeting any third country, ensuring fair competition between platforms and applying rules online that already apply offline”, he said.
Rogers said that others under sanctions were part of a “censorship-NGO ecosystem”.
Washington also sanctioned four people from non-profit campaign groups that work to detect problematic, fake or violent content or hate speech online.
They are Imran Ahmed, head of the UK and US-based Center for Countering Digital Hate; Claire Melford, head of the London-based Global Disinformation Index; Anna-Lena von Hodenberg, founder of Berlin-based HateAid; and HateAid co-leader Josephine Ballon.
Ahmed has close ties to Morgan McSweeney, chief of staff to British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer It has been told As “a very dear friend of mine”.
McSweeney helped Ahmed set up CCDH, which aims to combat online racism, anti-Semitism and extremist content, and was the organization’s director from 2018 to 2020.
An associate of McSweeney’s confirmed that the two men knew each other but said there was “no business relationship” between them.
A UK government spokesperson said: “The UK is fully committed to upholding the right to freedom of expression.
“While every country has the right to set its own visa rules, we support laws and institutions that are working to keep the Internet free from the most harmful content.
“Social media platforms should not be used to disseminate child sexual abuse material, incite hatred and violence, or spread fake information and videos for that purpose.”
Echoing his European counterparts, German Foreign Minister Johann Waddefull said on the issue that punitive measures, including crackdowns on hate speech, were “not acceptable”.
President Donald Trump’s administration has sought changes to EU tech rules and threatened to impose tariffs in retaliation for the bloc’s actions against Silicon Valley groups. The Commission has said that its technical rules are non-negotiable and are applied impartially.
In recent months, the Commission has launched an investigation into Amazon and Microsoft’s dominance in the cloud sector, launched an investigation into Google and Meta’s artificial intelligence models of WhatsApp, and fined Musk’s CEO €120m for breaking digital transparency rules.
Additional reporting by Paola Tamma
