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France criticizes US over visa restrictions targeting Europeans
(MENAFN) France expressed strong opposition Wednesday to the United States’ recent visa restrictions targeting five European individuals, including former European Commissioner Thierry Breton.
“France strongly condemns the visa restriction imposed by the United States on Thierry Breton, former minister and European Commissioner, and four other European figures,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot wrote on the US social media platform X.
Barrot emphasized that the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA)—cited in the US measures—was “democratically adopted” to ensure that actions illegal offline are also illegal online. He added that the legislation “has absolutely no extraterritorial reach and in no way affects the United States. The peoples of Europe are free and sovereign and cannot let the rules governing their digital space be imposed by others upon them.”
The US announced the visa restrictions on Tuesday, accusing the individuals of leading coordinated efforts to pressure platforms into censoring “American viewpoints,” according to Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Among those affected is Breton, who is alleged to have threatened X owner Elon Musk over compliance with the DSA. Other individuals include Imran Ahmed, CEO of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, accused of collaborating with the US administration to “weaponize the government against US citizens,” including prominent anti-vaccine figures; Clare Melford, head of the Global Disinformation Index, cited for using US taxpayer funds to promote “censorship and blacklisting of American speech and press”; and two executives of the German NGO HateAid, Anna-Lena von Hodenberg and Josephine Ballon, targeted for their roles as “trusted flaggers” under the DSA.
“France strongly condemns the visa restriction imposed by the United States on Thierry Breton, former minister and European Commissioner, and four other European figures,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot wrote on the US social media platform X.
Barrot emphasized that the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA)—cited in the US measures—was “democratically adopted” to ensure that actions illegal offline are also illegal online. He added that the legislation “has absolutely no extraterritorial reach and in no way affects the United States. The peoples of Europe are free and sovereign and cannot let the rules governing their digital space be imposed by others upon them.”
The US announced the visa restrictions on Tuesday, accusing the individuals of leading coordinated efforts to pressure platforms into censoring “American viewpoints,” according to Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Among those affected is Breton, who is alleged to have threatened X owner Elon Musk over compliance with the DSA. Other individuals include Imran Ahmed, CEO of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, accused of collaborating with the US administration to “weaponize the government against US citizens,” including prominent anti-vaccine figures; Clare Melford, head of the Global Disinformation Index, cited for using US taxpayer funds to promote “censorship and blacklisting of American speech and press”; and two executives of the German NGO HateAid, Anna-Lena von Hodenberg and Josephine Ballon, targeted for their roles as “trusted flaggers” under the DSA.
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