condemns the veto of European citizens and defends their sovereignty to regulate digital activity

“Freedom of expression is the foundation of our strong and vibrant European democracy. We are proud of her. We will protect it,” wrote the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on the social network X this Christmas Eve.

The Community Executive has asked the US authorities for clarification on these measures and assures that “if necessary” it will act “quickly and decisively” to defend the regulatory autonomy of the EU “in the face of unjustified measures.”

For his part, the president of the European Council, Antonio Costadescribed the sanctions as “unacceptable among allies, partners and friends.” “The EU firmly defends freedom of expression, fair digital rules and its regulatory sovereignty,” he said on social media.

Along the same lines, the head of community diplomacy, Kaja Kalladescribed them as “unacceptable” and added that they constitute an “attempt to challenge” the sovereignty of the EU, while the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsolaurged to “quickly rescind” the travel ban.

The reaction of the community bloc comes hours after the Administration of US President Donald Trump announced the entry ban for five European citizens who it considers “have led organized efforts to coerce US platforms to censor, demonetize and suppress US opinions with which they disagree,” according to the Secretary of State. Marco Rubio.

Among them is the former European Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton (2019-2024), promoter of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and Digital Services Act (DSA) which, among other objectives, limit the spread of disinformation on large platforms such as X, Meta and TikTok.

Leaders of the British organization Internet Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) and the German Hate Aid also appear, dedicated to combating misinformation and hate on the internet.

Trump, against European regulations

The Trump Administration has harshly attacked the European regulations that regulate online platforms, the digital taxes that some EU States have and the sanctions adopted by competition authorities against some technology giants, which it considers specifically aimed at harming American firms.

The community executive insisted this Wednesday in a statement, as it has done repeatedly in the past, that European digital standards “ensure safe conditions of competitionfair and equitable for all companies, applied fairly and without discrimination”.

“Our digital legislation has been decided democratically by the European Parliament and our Member States. It is essential to protect our citizens from online risks, such as terrorist content and child sexual abuse material,” said the EU Vice-President for Technological Sovereignty, Henna Virkunnen.

“EU laws do not constitute any form of censorship”he added in a message on the social network X.

The United States’ decision comes just two weeks after Brussels fined Elon Musk’s social network with 120 million euros for failing to comply with the transparency obligations required by the European digital services law with its blue check mark, which was described as an “attack” by Rubio and led Musk to call for the “abolition” of the EU.

In April, the European Commission fined Apple and Meta 500 million euros and 200 million, respectively, for violating the digital markets law, whose application has gained speed in recent months with the opening of several investigations.

In a year marked by trade disputes between the EU and the United States, The Trump government has made no secret of its intention to pressure the community bloc to soften its regulation.

The veto of these five citizens also comes at a time of increased tension following Washington’s decision to appoint a special envoy for Greenland, a Danish territory that Trump claims he “needs” for reasons of national security, which forced the EU to come out this week once again in defense of its sovereignty, in this case, territorial.