The US State Department said Tuesday it would deny visas to a former EU commissioner and four others, accusing them of seeking to “coerce” American social media platforms into censoring viewpoints they oppose.
“These radical activists and weaponized NGOs have advanced censorship crackdowns by foreign states — in each case targeting American speakers and American companies,” the department said in a statement announcing the sanctions.
The measure targeted Thierry Breton, the former top tech regulator at the European Commission, who often clashed with tech tycoons such as Elon Musk over their obligations to follow EU rules.
Breton was described by the State Department as the “mastermind” of the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA), a major piece of legislation that imposes content moderation and other standards on major social media platforms operating in Europe.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on X that his country “strongly condemns” the visa restrictions, adding that Europe “cannot let the rules governing their digital space be imposed by others upon them”.
The DSA has become a bitter rallying point for US conservatives who see it as a weapon of censorship against right-wing thought in Europe and beyond, an accusation the EU furiously denies.
“The Digital Services Act (DSA) was democratically adopted in Europe… it has absolutely no extraterritorial reach and in no way affects the United States,” Barrot said.
The DSA stipulates that major platforms must explain content-moderation decisions, provide transparency for users, and ensure researchers can carry out essential work, such as understanding how much children are exposed to dangerous content.
Breton, who left the European Commission in 2024, on X slammed the ban as a “witch hunt,” comparing the situation to the US McCarthy era when officials were chased out of government for alleged ties to communism.