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Thierry Breton, a former EU official who was sanctioned by the Trump administration last week, said the bloc should resist US efforts to influence its legislation aimed at regulating social media platforms.
Speaking in his first TV interview since the US imposed travel bans on him, Breton, the EU’s former digital chief, said the lack of a strong response showed that institutions in Brussels have been “very weak, very weak” at a time when the bloc is surrounded by “predators”, he told French TV broadcaster TF1 on Sunday evening.
As EU Commissioner, Breton was the main promoter of the Digital Services Act, which regulates content moderation on social media platforms.
Earlier this week, the US administration imposed visa restrictions on Breton as well as several activists, condemning their efforts to fight online hate speech as censorship targeted at US tech companies. In his former EU role, Breton frequently clashed with Elon Musk’s X and Meta Platforms Inc.
Breton said he received widespread political support after the US visa ban was announced. “They can’t force us to change the laws we democratically voted for just to please them,” Breton, an American social media platform, said. “No, we have to stand up.”
Breton said he was banned from traveling to the US because he had introduced legislation to protect users in Europe, including children and teenagers, which was supported by almost 90% of EU lawmakers as well as all member states.
Breton, who is leaving the European Commission in September 2024, said he was surprised when he learned about the US visa ban.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without any modifications to the text.
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