EU warns of possible action after the US bars 5 Europeans accused of censorship

BRUSSELS (AP) – France, Germany, the European Union and the United Kingdom on Wednesday hit out at a U.S. decision to impose travel bans on five Europeans the Trump administration accuses of pressuring tech firms to censor or suppress American views.

The EU’s executive branch, the European Commission, which supervises tech regulation in Europe, warned that it would take action against any “unjustified measures.” It said it had requested clarification from the U.S. State Department, which announced the bans on Tuesday.

The five Europeans were characterized by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio as “radical” activists and “weaponized” nongovernmental organizations. They include the former EU commissioner responsible for supervising social media rules, Thierry Breton.

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.

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.

The European Commission countered 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,” it said.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on X that he had spoken to Breton about the U.S. move. “We will stand firm against pressure and will protect Europeans,” Macron posted.

Macron said the EU’s digital rules were adopted by “a democratic and sovereign process” involving all member countries and the European Parliament. He said the rules “ensure fair competition among platforms, without targeting any third country.”

He underlined that “the rules governing the European Union’s digital space are not meant to be determined outside Europe.”

The four other Europeans banned by the U.S. are Imran Ahmed, chief executive of the Center 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.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said on X the entry bans, including on the leaders of HateAid, were “not acceptable.” He said Germany intended to address the U.S. “interpretation” of the EU’s digital rules with Washington “in order to strengthen our partnership.”

EU Council President António Costa also called the U.S. bans “unacceptable between allies, partners, and friends.”

“The EU stands firm in its defense of freedom of expression, fair digital rules, and its regulatory sovereignty,” Costa posted on X.

The U.K. government said, “While every country has the right to set its own visa rules, we support the laws and institutions which are working to keep the Internet free from the most harmful content.”

The 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.

Rubio said the five had advanced foreign government censorship campaigns against Americans and U.S. companies, which he said created “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences” for the United States.

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.