The United States has imposed travel bans on five European figures advocating stricter tech regulations, including former European Commissioner Thierry Breton.
Thierry Breton, who served as European Commissioner from 2019 to 2024, played a key role in drafting the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA). This legislation imposes obligations on tech platforms, such as flagging problematic content, which the US claims infringe on free speech.
Following the sanctions, Breton condemned the US actions as reminiscent of “McCarthyism,” referring to the anti-communist witch hunts led by Senator Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s.
He emphasised that the DSA was supported by 90% of the democratically elected European Parliament and unanimously approved by all 27 EU member states. On social media platform X, he addressed the US directly, writing: “Censorship is not where you think it is.”
European Commissioner Stéphane Séjourné expressed his full solidarity with Breton and criticised the sanctions. In a statement shared on X, he affirmed that Breton "acted in the general European interest"and that “no sanction will silence the sovereignty of European people.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has not commented on the matter so far.
