Breton responded to the sanctions with a post in which he asked if former U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy’s anti-communist “witch hunt” was being revived, and pointed out that the DSA had been approved by the majority of lawmakers in the European Parliament and unanimously backed by the bloc’s 27 member countries.
“Censorship isn’t where you think it is,” he wrote, questioning U.S. efforts to undermine the EU’s quest to reduce the spread of disinformation.
European Commission Vice President for Industrial Strategy Stéphane Séjourné on Wednesday backed Breton in a post in which he said “no sanction will silence the sovereignty of the European peoples.” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot condemned the visa restrictions and defended the DSA, which he said ensures “what is illegal offline is also illegal online.”
The European Commission condemned the move in a statement, saying freedom of expression is a “fundamental right” and a “shared core value with the United States across the democratic world.” The Commission added that it had requested “clarifications” from the U.S. “If needed, we will respond swiftly and decisively to defend our regulatory autonomy against unjustified measures,” the Commission said.
The Trump administration is openly opposed to European attempts to regulate online platforms. Vice President JD Vance routinely rails against alleged attempts to use digital rules to censor free speech, and earlier this month said the EU should not be “attacking American companies over garbage.”
Tech policy professionals say actions like Tuesday’s sanctions package, and the previous issuance of veiled threats at European companies accused of unfairly penalizing U.S. tech giants, may amount to a negotiating tactic on the part of a White House that wants to underscore its discontent with Europe’s regulations — without risking new trade wars that could threaten the U.S. economy.
