Overview
- The State Department barred former EU commissioner Thierry Breton and NGO leaders Imran Ahmed, Clare Melford, Anna-Lena von Hodenberg and Josephine Ballon from entering the United States.
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the measures target "extraterritorial censorship," accusing European actors of pressuring U.S. platforms to police speech.
- Breton called the move a "wind of McCarthyism" and defended the Digital Services Act as a law adopted by an elected Parliament and all 27 member states.
- France condemned the bans, President Emmanuel Macron labeled them coercive, and the European Commission requested clarifications and warned it could respond to protect EU rulemaking.
- Spain and Germany criticized the decision, while French political reactions were largely united against it except for divided views inside the Rassemblement National.