EU, France condemn U.S. visa ban concentrating on former EU commissioner, activists

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The Trump administration on Tuesday imposed visa bans on a former European Union commissioner and anti-disinformation campaigners it says have been concerned in censoring U.S. social media platforms, the most recent transfer in a marketing campaign geared toward European guidelines that U.S. officers say transcend reliable regulation.

Trump officers have ordered U.S. diplomats to construct opposition to the European Union's landmark Digital Providers Act (DSA), which is meant to fight hateful speech, misinformation and disinformation, however which Washington says stifles free speech and imposes prices on U.S. tech firms.

The visa bans come after the administration's Nationwide Safety Technique this month mentioned European leaders have been censoring free speech and suppressing opposition to immigration insurance policies that it mentioned threat "civilizational erasure" for the continent.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio mentioned the 5 folks focused with visa bans "have led organized efforts to coerce American platforms to censor, demonetize and suppress American viewpoints they oppose."

"These radical activists and weaponized NGOs have superior censorship crackdowns by international states — in every case concentrating on American audio system and American firms," Rubio mentioned in an announcement.

<img loading="lazy" alt="A man speaks at a podium in front of a blue screen that shows a map." srcset="https://i.cbc.ca/ais/975c5813-a0a8-4a01-b1f5-37b8c7679c2b,1766576658440/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C1849%2C1236%29%3BResize%3D805 805w,https://i.cbc.ca/ais/975c5813-a0a8-4a01-b1f5-37b8c7679c2b,1766576658440/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C1849%2C1236%29%3BResize%3D1104 1104w,https://i.cbc.ca/ais/975c5813-a0a8-4a01-b1f5-37b8c7679c2b,1766576658440/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C1849%2C1236%29%3BResize%3D1280 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 762px) 93.6vw,730px" src="https://i.cbc.ca/ais/975c5813-a0a8-4a01-b1f5-37b8c7679c2b,1766576658440/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C1849%2C1236%29%3B" style="aspect-ratio:1.4959546925566343" data-cy="image-img"/> U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks throughout his end-of-year information convention on the State Division in Washington on Friday. Rubio mentioned Tuesday that the people focused with visa bans 'have led organized efforts to coerce American platforms to censor, demonetize and suppress American viewpoints they oppose.' (Kevin Mohatt/Reuters) Rubio didn't title these focused, however Beneath Secretary for Public Diplomacy Sarah Rogers recognized them on X, accusing the people of "fomenting censorship of American speech."

The most high-profile goal was French former enterprise government Thierry Breton, who served because the European commissioner for the inner market from 2019-2024. Rogers referred to as Breton "a mastermind" of the DSA and mentioned he as soon as threatened President Donald Trump's ally, X proprietor Elon Musk, forward of an interview Musk carried out with Trump. Reuters was unable to right away attain Breton for remark.

Reuters reported in August that U.S. officers have been contemplating sanctions on officers liable for the DSA.

French president slams choice French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday slammed the choice to bar the people.

"France condemns the visa restriction measures taken by the US towards Thierry Breton and 4 different European figures. These measures quantity to intimidation and coercion geared toward undermining European digital sovereignty," Macron mentioned on social media platform X.

"Along with the European Fee and our European companions, we'll proceed to defend our digital sovereignty and our regulatory autonomy," he added.

The European Fee equally condemned the transfer, a Fee spokesperson mentioned on Wednesday, including that the EU had requested clarifications from the U.S. authorities.

"If wanted, we'll reply swiftly and decisively to defend our regulatory autonomy towards unjustified measures," he additionally mentioned.

World Disinformation Index calls it 'immoral' The visa bans additionally hit Imran Ahmed, the British CEO of the U.S.-based Heart for Countering Digital Hate; Anna-Lena von Hodenberg and Josephine Ballon of the German nonprofit HateAid; and Clare Melford, co-founder of the World Disinformation Index (GDI), Rogers mentioned.

Hodenberg and Ballon mentioned in an announcement the visa bans have been an try to hinder the enforcement of European legislation on U.S. firms working in Europe. "We is not going to be intimidated by a authorities that makes use of accusations of censorship to silence those that stand up for human rights and freedom of expression," they mentioned.

A spokesperson for GDI referred to as the U.S. motion "immoral, illegal and un-American" and "an authoritarian assault on free speech and an egregious act of authorities censorship."

Rogers mentioned Melford falsely labeled on-line feedback as hate speech or disinformation and used U.S. taxpayers' cash to "exhort censorship and blacklisting of American speech and press."

The Heart for Countering Digital Hate didn't instantly reply to a request for remark.

Melford, a former administration advisor and TV government, mentioned in a video posted on-line in 2024 that she co-founded the GDI "to attempt to break the enterprise mannequin of dangerous on-line content material" by reviewing on-line information web sites to permit advertisers to "select whether or not or not they need to fund content material that's polarizing and divisive and dangerous, or whether or not they need to steer their promoting again in the direction of extra high quality journalism.”