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The row between Europe and Washington about what you can do online just ramped up.
On Christmas Eve, the White House imposed visa bans on five public figures in Europe.
It’s all about what European officials describe as the regulation of online harm and what America’s officials consider censorship.
“If you spend your career fomenting censorship of American speech, you’re unwelcome on American soil,” said Sarah Rogers, the US under secretary of state for public diplomacy, as the bans were announced.
The highest profile figure facing travel restrictions is Thierry Breton, a former EU commissioner responsible for regulating social media and a key architect of the Digital Services Act (DSA) – a piece of legislation that is very unpopular in the White House.
The Trump administration has accused the EU of placing “undue” restrictions on freedom of expression in its efforts to combat hateful speech, misinformation and disinformation.
It argues the DSA unfairly targets US companies and cities, who it is not elected to represent.
Mr Breton has already had some fiery spats with Elon Musk, the owner of X and former Trump adviser.
Earlier this year, Musk called him a “tyrant of Europe” and Mr Breton accused Musk of “lying like hell” about online restrictions he was facing.
“Is McCarthy’s witch hunt back?” he posted on X after the bans were announced.
The other four people facing visa bans are from the UK and Germany and work in disinformation organisations.
They are the UK’s Imran Ahmed, chief executive of the Centre for Countering Digital Hate and Clare Melford, who runs the Global Disinformation Index and Germany’s Josephine Ballon and Anna-Lena von Hodenberg from HateAid.
Although this is the first time Washington has put visa bans in place, it is an argument that’s been brewing for years.
Europe and the UK have much stricter controls over what you can do online compared…
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