European leaders on Wednesday condemned a move by the U.S. to ban visas for five individuals — including a former EU commissioner — for alleged censorship.
The Trump administration imposed visa bans on Thierry Breton, a former European Union commissioner behind the Digital Services Act (DSA), and four anti-disinformation campaigners, accusing them of censoring U.S. social media platforms.
“The State Department is taking decisive action against five individuals who have led organized efforts to coerce American platforms to censor, demonetize, and suppress American viewpoints they oppose,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.
The DSA forces tech giants like Google and Meta to police illegal content more aggressively, or face hefty fines.
Rubio added that “these radical activists and weaponized NGOs have advanced censorship crackdowns by foreign states—in each case targeting American speakers and American companies.”
As such, their entry to the U.S. has “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences,” he said.
“Based on these determinations, the Department has taken steps to impose visa restrictions on agents of the global censorship-industrial complex who, as a result, will be generally barred from entering the United States.”
Breton, who served as EU commissioner between 2019 and 2024, wrote on X: “Is McCarthy’s witch hunt back?”
He added: “As a reminder: 90% of the European Parliament — our democratically elected body — and all 27 Member States unanimously voted the DSA.”
“To our American friends: “Censorship isn’t where you think it is.””
‘Witch hunt’
The European Commission “strongly condemned” the move on Wednesday.
“Freedom of expression is a fundamental right in Europe and a shared core value with the United States across the democratic world,” it said in a statement, adding that “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.”
“Our digital rules ensure a safe, fair, and level playing field for all companies, applied fairly and without discrimination.”
The Commission has asked for clarifications from U.S. authorities, it said.
“Freedom of speech is the foundation of our strong and vibrant European democracy,” said current EU chief Ursula von der Leyen on X. “We are proud of it. We will protect it.”
French President Emmanuel Macron said that his country condemns the visa restrictions. “These measures amount to intimidation and coercion aimed at undermining European digital sovereignty,” he said in a statement on X.
“The European Union’s digital regulations were adopted following a democratic and sovereign process by the European Parliament and the Council.”
He also said that the DSA does not target any specific third country but is designed “to ensure that what is illegal offline is also illegal online.”
It comes as President Donald Trump continues to ramp up travel restrictions for foreign visitors and criticizes Europe.
Rubio did not identify who his department had taken action against, however Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy Sarah Rogers later did so on X.
Josephine Ballon, the co-leader of HateAid who serves on Germany’s Advisory Council of the Digital Services, was among those working on anti-disinformation campaigns to receive sanctions. Her co-leader Anna-Lena von Hodenberg was also affected. CNBC has reached out to Ballon and Von Hodenberg for comment.
The bans are part of efforts to enforce what Rogers refers to as a “red line” for the U.S. and the “extraterritorial censorship of Americans.”
In an interview with GB news on Dec. 4, Rogers took aim at the U.K.’s Online Safety Act (OSA), saying the law was being applied extraterritorially, accounting for U.S. citizens’ speech about U.S. politics on U.S.-based platforms.
Europe’s DSA and the U.K.’s OSA are among only a handful of pieces of legislation designed to keep the power of Big Tech in check and improve safety for children online. OSA law requires age verification on adult sites and a number of other platforms.