French President Emmanuel Macron criticized US visa restrictions imposed on former European Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton and four other European individuals, denouncing the actions as “intimidation and coercion” to undermine European digital sovereignty. The US sanctions targeted those involved in combating hate speech, with Macron asserting that the European Union’s digital regulations were established democratically and independently by the European Parliament and Council.
Macron expressed France’s disapproval of the US measures, emphasizing that the EU’s digital rules aim to ensure fair competition among platforms within Europe and to uphold consistent legality between offline and online spaces. He stressed that the EU’s digital framework should not be influenced by external forces and affirmed a collective defense of European digital sovereignty alongside the European Commission and other partners.
The Trump administration’s visa revocations extended to UK nationals Imran Ahmed and Clare Melford, leaders in countering digital hate, as well as Germany’s Anna-Lena von Hodenberg and Josephine Ballon from Hate Aid, a non-profit monitoring far-right digital disinformation. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio justified the sanctions, labeling the affected individuals as “radical activists” who allegedly pressured American platforms to censor and suppress certain viewpoints.
