French President Emmanuel Macron has strongly condemned the United States’ decision to impose visa restrictions on former European Union commissioner Thierry Breton and four other European activists, describing the move as an attempt to undermine Europe’s regulatory independence in the digital space.
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The visa bans, announced by the U.S. State Department on Tuesday, come amid growing transatlantic tensions over the European Union’s digital regulatory framework. Washington accused the affected individuals of seeking to “coerce” American social media companies into suppressing viewpoints they oppose.
In a statement posted on his verified X (formerly Twitter) account on Wednesday, December 24, 2025, Macron described the U.S. action as intimidation aimed at weakening European digital sovereignty.
“France condemns the visa restriction measures taken by the United States against Thierry Breton and four other European figures,” Macron said. “These measures amount to intimidation and coercion aimed at undermining European digital sovereignty.”
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the individuals targeted were part of what he described as a coordinated effort to promote censorship against American speakers and firms.
“These radical activists and weaponised NGOs have advanced censorship crackdowns by foreign states, in each case targeting American speakers and American companies,” Rubio said.
While Rubio initially declined to name those affected, U.S. Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy Sarah Rogers later identified them in a social media post. She described Breton as the “mastermind” behind the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), legislation that imposes strict content moderation and transparency obligations on major technology platforms operating in Europe. The State Department also accused the advocacy group HateAid of functioning as a “trusted flagger” under the DSA framework.
Reacting to the ban, Breton denounced the move as a “witch hunt.”
“To our American friends: Censorship isn’t where you think it is,” he wrote on X.
Macron, however, stressed that the EU’s digital rules were lawfully adopted through democratic institutions and are applied uniformly within Europe.
“The European Union’s digital regulations were adopted following a democratic and sovereign process by the European Parliament and the Council,” he said, adding that the rules are designed to ensure fair competition and accountability in the digital market rather than target any specific country.
“They apply within Europe to ensure fair competition among platforms, without targeting any third country, and to ensure that what is illegal offline is also illegal online,” Macron stated.
He further underscored Europe’s right to regulate its own digital environment, insisting that “the rules governing the European Union’s digital space are not meant to be determined outside Europe.”
Macron concluded by reaffirming France’s alignment with EU institutions, pledging continued defense of Europe’s regulatory autonomy.
“Together with the European Commission and our European partners, we will continue to defend our digital sovereignty and our regulatory autonomy,” he said.
The European Commission has since requested formal clarification from Washington, warning that it would respond “swiftly and decisively” if necessary to defend the bloc’s regulatory independence.
Similarly, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot condemned the visa restrictions, calling them unjustified and unacceptable.
The dispute highlights broader disagreements between Washington and Brussels over free speech, platform governance, and the balance of power between governments and major technology firms, as both sides advance competing visions for the future of global digital regulation.
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