“Is the McCarthy Witch Hunt Back?”

Europe revolts against the latest attack of American Administration of Donald Trump. Brussels, France and Germany condemned the White House’s decision to impose travel restrictions for five EU citizensincluding the former Community Commissioner responsible for the internal market Thierry Bretonwhich promote regulations aimed at limiting misinformation on platforms such as X, Meta and TikTok.

Washington decided to sanction Breton, the British activist Imran Ahmedexecutive director of the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), an organization dedicated to combating hatred and disinformation on the Internet, to the leaders of the German organization Hate Aid, Anna-Lena von Hodenberg And Joséphine BallonAlready Claire Melfordco-founder of the Global Misinformation Index.

According to the Trump administration, those sanctioned “led organized efforts to constrain American platforms to censor, demonetize, and suppress American views they disagree with.

EU fine on X

Travel restrictions are the latest episode of the complicated and tense relationship between the United States and Europe They have been maintained since Trump’s return to the White House last January. Divergences which also appeared in defense and trade policies, in the resolution of the war in Ukraine or in matters of migration.

The sanctions follow the line of the national security strategy published by the government which warns of the “erasure of civilization” in Europe due to its migration policy and denounces the EU’s alleged censorship of freedom of expression and even of political opposition.

Breton was one of the main promoters of the European Digital Services Act (DSA), which requires large platforms to support the content they distribute. The first sanction covered by this regulation was inflicted by Brussels on X at the beginning of December: a minimum fine of 120 million for having “misled” its users with its famous blue verification mark. Elon Musk, owner of the social network, called the former commissioner a “tyrant of Europe”.

“Is the McCarthy Witch Hunt Back?Breton himself asked precisely in X shortly after hearing the news of the withdrawal of the visa. “As a reminder: 90% of the democratically elected European Parliament and all 27 Member States voted unanimously in favor of the DSA. To our American friends: censorship is not where you think it is.”

The vice-president of the Community Executive for Industry, French Stéphane Séjournédeclared that “no sanction will silence the sovereignty of the European peoples” and showed its “total solidarity” with those sanctioned. “My predecessor Thierry Breton acted in favor of the general European interest, faithful to the mandate given by voters in 2019,” he declared in a message on the networks.

The French president Emmanuel Macron expressed himself in the same sense, denouncing the “acts of intimidation and coercion” of the Trump administration aimed at “undermining European digital sovereignty”. The president clarified that “the rules applicable in the field of the Internet in Europe are not intended to be determined outside of Europe.”

The government of Pedro Sanchezin the same way, expressed his solidarity with Breton and the leaders of civil society organizations who fight against disinformation and hate speech. “A secure digital space, free from illegal content and misinformationis a fundamental value for democracy in Europe and a responsibility for everyone,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs underlined in a press release.

The President of the European Council, Antonio Costadescribed the White House’s attitude as “unacceptable among allies, partners and friends.” “The EU remains firm in its defense of freedom of expression, fair digital rules and its regulatory sovereignty,” he recalled.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul also described the measures taken by Washington against two of its citizens as unacceptable, demonstrating the government’s “support and solidarity” towards them. “Anyone who calls this censorship is distorting our constitutional system,” he lamented. “The rules by which we want to live in the digital space in Germany and Europe are not decided in Washington.”

A spokesperson for the nonprofit Global Disinformation Index called the visa withdrawals “an authoritarian attack on free speech and a blatant act of government censorship.” “The Trump administration is, once again, using the full power of the federal government to intimidate, censor and silence voices you disagree with“, he assured. “His actions today are immoral, illegal and un-American.”