BRUSSELS -- The European Union's executive on Wednesday warned that it would take action against any “unjustified measures” after the U.S.State Department barred five Europeans it accuses of pressuring U.S.technology firms to censor or suppress American viewpoints.Breton, a businessman and former French finance minister, clashed last year on social media with tech billionaire Elon Musk over broadcasting an online interview with Donald Trump in the months leading up to the U.S.
election.The European Commission, the EU’s powerful executive branch and which supervises tech regulation in Europe, said that it “strongly condemns the U.S.decision to impose travel restrictions” and that it has requested clarification about the move.French President Emmanuel Macron also condemned it.Rubio wrote in an X post on Tuesday that “for far too long, ideologues in Europe have led organized efforts to coerce American platforms to punish American viewpoints they oppose.”“The Trump Administration will no longer tolerate these egregious acts of extraterritorial censorship,” he posted.Macron said that the visa restrictions “amount to intimidation and coercion aimed at undermining European digital sovereignty,” he posted on X.Popular ReadsEpstein files so far don't support allegations of previously unknown accomplicesDec 19, 11:58 PM9-year-old Melodee Buzzard fatally shot during road trip, mom arrested: SheriffDec 23, 6:16 PMRob Reiner's son arrested for murder in stabbing death of famed director, wifeDec 15, 6:39 PMHe underlined that “the rules governing the European Union’s digital space are not meant to be determined outside Europe.”Breton and the group of Europeans fell afoul of a new visa policy announced in May to restrict the entry of foreigners deemed responsible for censorship of protected speech in the United States.
The four others are: Imran Ahmed, chief executive of the Centre for Countering Digital Hate; Josephine Ballon and Anna-Lena von Hodenberg, leaders of HateAid, a German organization; and Clare Melford, who runs the Global Disinformation Index.The action to bar them from the U.S.is part of a Trump administration campaign against foreign influence over online speech, using immigration law rather than platform regulations or penalties.In a post on X on Tuesday, Sarah Rogers, the U.S.under secretary of state for public diplomacy, called Breton the “mastermind” behind the EU’s Digital Services Act, which imposes a set of strict requirements designed to keep internet users safe online.
This includes flagging harmful or illegal content like hate speech.Breton responded on X by noting that all 27 EU member countries voted for the Digital Services Act in 2022.“To our American friends: ‘Censorship isn’t where you think it is,’” he wrote.___Angela Charlton contributed to this report from Paris.
