According to local media quoting Ritsau, the European Commission condemns the US decision to bar five EU figures from entering the United States over alleged censorship, a Commission spokesperson told Reuters. Read more after the announcement.
The spokesperson added that the European Union had requested clarification from the US authorities.
The spokesperson said: “If necessary, we will act swiftly and decisively to defend our organizational independence against unjustified actions.”.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on Tuesday on the X website that his department would bar prominent figures in what he calls the global censorship industry from entering the United States.
Rubio added: “For a very long time, ideologues in Europe have led organized efforts to force American platforms to penalize American views with which they disagree.”.
The Secretary of State does not disclose the names of those sanctioned. However, Sarah Rogers, an official at the State Department, did so in a separate post on X.
One of them is Thierry Breton, who served as the European Union Commissioner for the Internal Market and Digital Services from 2019 to 2024.
According to Sarah Rogers, in 2024, Britton threatened American tech billionaire Elon Musk in a letter before an interview on the X program with US President Donald Trump.
Rogers wrote that Britton reminded the American tech billionaire in his letter of EU requirements regarding illegal content and misinformation under European law.
The news is still being updated from sources.
What is striking about this issue is that, although the dispute over social media platforms is not new between Trump's America and the European Union, the latest development is considered an unusual public escalation against high-ranking figures in the European Union.
