Ex-EU commissioner Breton hits out after US denies visas to EU figures over tech rules: ‘Is McCarthy’s witch hunt back?’

Former European Union commissioner Thierry Breton has publicly challenged a decision by the US authorities to deny him a visa, describing the move as politically motivated in a social media post on Tuesday.

Reacting on X, Breton suggested the action amounted to a targeted campaign against him. “Is McCarthy’s witch hunt back?” he wrote, referring to the US announcement that he and several others would be barred from receiving visas.

US cites alleged pressure on platforms

Earlier, the US State Department said it would deny visas to Breton, a former European technology regulator, and four other individuals. The department accused them of attempting to “coerce” American social media platforms into censoring viewpoints they oppose.

Washington has intensified its criticism of EU digital rules after Brussels fined Elon Musk’s X earlier this month for breaching DSA requirements on advertising transparency and user verification. In a move widely seen as retaliatory, the US government last week indicated that major European firms could face repercussions, naming Accenture, DHL, Mistral, Siemens and Spotify among those potentially affected.

The visa ban announced by Washington also included Imran Ahmed of the Centre for Countering Digital Hate, a nonprofit tackling online hate, misinformation and disinformation that came under attack from Musk following his acquisition of Twitter, later rebranded as X. Anna-Lena von Hodenberg and Josephine Ballon of HateAid, a German group described by the State Department as a trusted flagger under the DSA, were similarly targeted, along with Clare Melford, who heads the UK-based Global Disinformation Index.

Washington has additionally turned its fire on the UK’s Online Safety Act, Britain’s counterpart to the DSA, which seeks to impose stricter content moderation obligations on major social media platforms. The White House last week froze a tech cooperation agreement with the UK, saying it conflicted with British tech regulations.

“President Trump has been clear that his America First foreign policy rejects violations of American sovereignty,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement. “Extraterritorial overreach by foreign censors targeting American speech is no exception,” he added.