European
leaders condemn US visa bans as row over ‘censorship’ escalates
Washington
accused of ‘coercion and intimidation’ after five leading figures behind
digital safety law campaign targeted
Patrick
Wintour Diplomatic Editor
Wed 24
Dec 2025 12.36 GMT
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.
Justifying
the visa bans, the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, wrote on X: “For far too
long, ideologues in Europe have led organised efforts to coerce American
platforms to punish American viewpoints they oppose. The Trump administration
will no longer tolerate these egregious acts of extraterritorial censorship.”
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 in furious terms. “These measures amount to intimidation
and coercion aimed at undermining European digital sovereignty,” he wrote, also
on X. “The European Union’s digital regulations were adopted following a
democratic and sovereign process by the European Parliament and the Council.
They apply within Europe to ensure fair competition among platforms, without
targeting any third country, and to ensure that what is illegal offline is also
illegal online. The rules governing the European Union’s digital space 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, a
former French finance minister and the European commissioner for the internal
market from 2019 to 2024, said: “Is McCarthy’s witch-hunt back?
“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.”
The EU
Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said: “Freedom of speech is the
foundation of our strong and vibrant European democracy. We are proud of it. We
will protect it.” A commission spokesperson added: “If needed, we will respond
swiftly and decisively to defend our regulatory autonomy against unjustified
measures.”
In the
UK, the government said it was “fully committed” to upholding free speech.
The EU
law, passed in 2022, requires large digital platforms to show they are taking
steps to address online risks, including the spread of illegal content, hate
speech and the use of disinformation to manipulate election results.
After two
years of investigation, Elon Musk’s X platform was this month fined €120m
(£104m) over a series of transgressions mainly relating to transparency,
including deceiving users about verification checks, and researcher’s access.
Washington
said the EU was pursuing “undue” restrictions on freedom of expression and the
DSA’s s extraterritorial restrictions were designed to weaken US tech firms and
US citizens.
Breton
was replaced in the internal market role at the EU by another French
politician, Stéphane Séjourné, who is the Commission’s executive
vice-president. Séjourné expressed his support for his predecessor saying: “No
sanction will silence the sovereignty of the European peoples. Total solidarity
with him and all the people of Europe affected by this”.
Outlining
the bans on Tuesday, US under secretary for public diplomacy, Sarah Rogers,
classified Breton as a “mastermind” of the DSA.
Germany’s
justice ministry said the two German campaigners had the government’s “support
and solidarity” and the visa bans were unacceptable, adding that HateAid
supported people affected by unlawful digital hate speech. The German foreign
minister, Johann Wadephul, echoed the remarks on X: “The DSA was democratically
adopted by the EU for the EU – it does not have extraterritorial effect.
Spain’s
foreign ministry also condemned the US measures, saying in a statement: “A safe
digital space, free from illegal content and disinformation, is a fundamental
value for democracy in Europe and a responsibility for everyone.
“Anyone
who describes this as censorship is misrepresenting our constitutional system.
The rules by which we want to live in the digital space in Germany and in
Europe are not decided in Washington.”
Dennis
Radtke, an MEP and member of the German ruling CDU, said: “The Trump fans in
Europe defend this as a fight for freedom of speech. Where exactly has an
opinion been suppressed? Where is the fight for freedom of speech with regard
to China and Russia? It’s only about business here and the fight against the
rule of law.”
Raphaël
Glucksmann, a French socialist MEP, said in a message to Rubio: “For far too
long, Europe has been weak in implementing its own laws and defending its own
interests. You have chosen to cosy up tyrants and confront democracies. The
time has come for us to stand up. Kneel as much as you want in front of Putin,
we are the free world now.
“We are
not a colony of the United States. We are Europeans, we must defend our laws,
our principles, our interests. This scandalous sanction against Thierry Breton
pays tribute to his fight for our sovereignty. We will continue it together. To
the end.”
The row
is the latest to showcase tensions between the US and Europe. In August,
Washington imposed sanctions on the French judge Nicolas Yann Guillou, who sits
on the international criminal court, for the tribunal’s targeting of Israeli
leaders and a past decision to investigate US officials.
Michel
Duclos, a former senior French diplomat and resident senior fellow in
geopolitics and diplomacy at the Institut Montaigne thinktank lamented the
move, referencing Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev’s recent trip to Miami for
talks on the Ukraine war. He said: “Dmitriev celebrated in Miami, Breton denied
US visa: Europe is becoming the new Russia for Washington. It brings to mind
the 1920s – America favouring the former enemy [Germany) against its former
allies – but worse.”
The chair
of the German Journalists’ Association, Mika Beuster, expressed, solidarity
with the Berlin-based HateAid. “This is censorship in its purest form, the
likes of which we have previously only known from autocratic regimes,” said
Beuster.
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