European leaders on Wednesday condemned a move by the U.S. to ban visas for five individuals — including a former EU commissioner — for alleged censorship.
The Trump administration imposed visa bans on Thierry Breton, a former European Union commissioner behind the Digital Services Act (DSA), and four anti-disinformation campaigners, accusing them of censoring U.S. social media platforms.
"The State Department is taking decisive action against five individuals who have led organized efforts to coerce American platforms to censor, demonetize, and suppress American viewpoints they oppose," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.
The DSA forces tech giants like Google and Meta to police illegal content more aggressively, or face hefty fines.
Rubio added that "these radical activists and weaponized NGOs have advanced censorship crackdowns by foreign states—in each case targeting American speakers and American companies."
As such, their entry to the U.S. has "potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences," he said.
"Based on these determinations, the Department has taken steps to impose visa restrictions on agents of the global censorship-industrial complex who, as a result, will be generally barred from entering the United States."
Breton, who served as EU commissioner between 2019 and 2024, wrote on X: "Is McCarthy's witch hunt back?"
He added: "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.""