European Union ‘strongly condemns’ U.S. sanctions against five Europeans

The European Union and a few member States reacted sharply Wednesday (December 24, 2025) to U.S. sanctions imposed on 5 European figures serious about regulating tech firms, collectively with earlier European commissioner Thierry Breton.

They were responding after the U.S. verbalize division presented Tuesday (December 23) it may possibly possibly maybe scream visas to the 5, accusing them of searching for to “coerce” American social media platforms into censoring viewpoints they oppose.

France, Germany and Spain also condemned the files from Washington.

A press commence from the Commission stated: “We have requested clarifications from the U.S. authorities and remain engaged. If needed, we will respond swiftly and decisively to defend our regulatory autonomy against unjustified measures.

“Our digital tips guarantee a salvage, exquisite, and level playing self-discipline for all firms, utilized fairly and without discrimination.”

Mr. Breton, the former top tech regulator at the European Commission, often clashed with tycoons including Elon Musk over their obligations to follow E.U. rules.

The state department has described him as the “mastermind” of the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA), which imposes content moderation and other standards on major social media platforms operating in Europe.

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.

But the act has become a bitter rallying point for U.S. conservatives who see it as a weapon of censorship against right-wing thought in Europe and beyond, an accusation the E.U. furiously denies.

“The Trump Administration will no longer tolerate these egregious acts of extraterritorial censorship,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a post on X Tuesday (December 23).

‘Intimidation and coercion’

French President Emmanuel Macron said on X: “France condemns the visa restriction measures taken by the US in opposition to Thierry Breton and 4 other European figures.”

“These measures amount to intimidation and coercion aimed in the direction of undermining European digital sovereignty,” he added, saying Europe would defend its “regulatory autonomy”.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul wrote in a post on X Wednesday (December 24): “The DSA turned into once democratically adopted by the EU for the EU — it does no longer secure extraterritorial secure.

The visa bans, he added, “are not acceptable”.

Spain’s international ministry also condemned the U.S. measures, announcing in a press commence: “A safe digital space, free from illegal content and disinformation, is a fundamental value for democracy in Europe and a responsibility for everyone.”

Mr. Breton himself described the most fresh measures as a political “witch hunt” in a post on X: “To our American friends: ‘Censorship isn’t where you think it is’.”

Mr. Breton left the payment in 2024 and Stephane Sejourne, his successor accountable of the E.U.’s interior market, stated on X that “no sanction will silence the sovereignty of the European peoples”.

The visa ban also targeted Imran Ahmed of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, a nonprofit that fights online misinformation; and Anna-Lena von Hodenberg and Josephine Ballon of HateAid, a German organisation that the verbalize division stated capabilities as a depended on flagger for imposing the DSA.

Clare Melford, who leads the UK-primarily based fully mostly Global Disinformation Index (GDI), turned into once also on the list.

A press commence from HateAid known as the U.S. authorities resolution an “act of repression by an administration that increasingly disregards the rule of law and tries to silence its critics with all its might”.

A GDI spokesperson stated the measures were “an egregious act of government censorship” apart from to “immoral, unlawful, and un-American”.