EU, France, Germany condemn US travel ban on Europeans

The European Union, France and Germany have condemned Washington's decision to ban European citizens from entering the EU over alleged censorship of US internet platforms. Brussels announced on Wednesday that it could respond "swiftly and decisively" to "unjustified measures."

On Tuesday US President Donald Trump's administration imposed a travel ban on five European citizens, including former European Commission Commissioner Thierry Breton of France, whom it accuses of restricting freedom of speech and over-regulating US tech giants.

A Commission spokesman said it "strongly condemns the US decision" adding that "freedom of expression is a fundamental right in Europe and a common, fundamental value that we share with the United States across the democratic world."

The travel ban is likely to worsen the differences between Washington and some European capitals on issues such as freedom of speech, defense, immigration, the so-called "far right," trade and the Russia-Ukraine war. The bans come weeks after the US released its national security strategy, warning that Europe is facing "civilizational erasure" and must change course if it is to remain a reliable ally to the United States.

Breton was one of the architects of the European Digital Services Act (DSA), a landmark legal framework European officials claimed was designed to make the internet safer. According to a State Department official the bans also apply to Imran Ahmed, the British head of the US-based Center to Counter Digital Hate, Anna-Lena von Hodenberg and Josephine Ballon of the German nonprofit HateAid, and Clare Melford, co-founder of the Global Disinformation Index.

However, Europe has also seen a slew of arrests for posts on social media that many in the west would have previously seen as innocuous, or at best offensive but not warranting legal action.

The EU’s online police tactics will go a step further with its proposed Chat Control regulation, which would mandate scanning of all private digital communications, including encrypted messages and photos. This evoked a major backlash from the opposition SDP in Croatia, who argued that Brussels is trying to implement a massive surveillance system over all European citizens under the guise of protecting minors from online sex abuse.

Source: HRT