The EU warned it could "respond swiftly and decisively" after the US imposed visa bans on five Europeans involved in anti-disinformation efforts, including Thierry Breton. European leaders condemned the move while US Senator Marco Rubio defended it as opposing "extraterritorial censorship." In related US news, the DOJ uncovered over one million additional Epstein documents, a federal judge blocked cuts to homeland security funding tied to immigration compliance, and 350 National Guard troops were sent to New Orleans.
EU Warns It May Retaliate After US Visa Bans On Anti-Disinformation Figures
European Union flags flutter outside the European Commission.Photograph: Stéphanie Lecocq/Reuters
The European Commission said the EU could "respond swiftly and decisively" to what a spokesperson called "unjustified" US visa bans imposed on five Europeans involved in efforts to combat online hate and disinformation.
European leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, accused Washington of "coercion and intimidation" after the United States announced travel restrictions on people who have been central to campaigns advocating new rules to govern US technology platforms.
The restrictions target former EU commissioner Thierry Breton—a leading architect of the bloc’s Digital Services Act (DSA)—and four anti-disinformation campaigners based in Germany and the United Kingdom. European officials say the DSA is intended to curb hate speech and protect users online; some US officials view parts of the law as overreaching and harmful to free expression.
Senator Marco Rubio defended the move on X, writing that, in his view, "ideologues in Europe have led organised efforts to coerce American platforms to punish American viewpoints they oppose," and that the administration would not tolerate what he described as "extraterritorial censorship." German, Spanish and UK leaders, and numerous EU officials, publicly condemned the bans.
Related US Developments
The Department of Justice said federal prosecutors in Manhattan and the FBI have identified more than one million additional documents connected to the Jeffrey Epstein case; officials cautioned that processing the materials for public release may take several weeks. Victims and attorneys voiced outrage over an initially limited file release despite a legal deadline for fuller disclosure.
In a separate legal setback for the administration, a federal judge in Rhode Island blocked efforts to reduce federal homeland security funding, including disaster aid, for states that refuse to comply with certain immigration-enforcement conditions. The Department of Homeland Security has said it will appeal.
The administration is also deploying 350 National Guard troops to New Orleans ahead of the new year, while a parallel immigration operation by border authorities continues.
Internationally, the Pacific island nation of Palau agreed to accept up to 75 migrants from the United States in exchange for additional aid, after signing a memorandum of understanding on transfers of third-country nationals.
Back in Washington, Democratic Representative Joyce Beatty filed a lawsuit seeking to remove Donald Trump's name from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. A White House spokesperson defended Trump’s association with the center, saying he had helped preserve the institution.
Experts also weighed in on Mr. Trump’s recent comments that the US should retain oil from seized Venezuelan tankers, saying the rhetoric reflects a strain of right-wing "resource imperialism" and echoes familiar tensions between regime-change language, security pretexts and economic interests.
These developments were reported on Tuesday, 23 December.
