“Outrageous acts of censorship.” The US imposed sanctions against former European Commissioner Breton

This decision caused reproaches from Europe, the agency noted.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio justified the restrictions as a response to the “global censorship-industrial complex” which he said was affecting US tech companies.

“For too long, ideologues in Europe have led organized efforts to force American platforms to punish American views they oppose. The Trump Administration will no longer tolerate these outrageous acts of extraterritorial censorship,” he wrote.

Rubio also added that the United States is ready and “willing to expand this list if others do not change course.”

French President Emmanuel Macron said at X that France “condemns” the decision and will “continue to defend our digital sovereignty and our regulatory autonomy.”

Breton mentioned a “witch hunt” in his commentary.

“As a reminder, 90% of the European Parliament – our democratically elected body – and all 27 member states voted unanimously in favor of the business relations law. To our American friends: 'Censorship is not where you think it is,'” he said.

Bloomberg noted that the EU and the White House have repeatedly clashed over freedom of speech and technology regulation. Tensions recently escalated when American businessman Elon Musk's social network X was fined €120 million for violating EU content moderation law, the article said.