The French president has condemned US visa restrictions targeting several senior EU officials, describing the move as “intimidation and coercion” aimed at undermining the bloc’s digital policies and sovereignty. The restrictions, announced by the US administration, target five officials, including Thierry Breton, the former European Commissioner for Internal Market, over their efforts to regulate American tech companies.

The dispute centers on the EU’s Digital Markets Act and Digital Services Act, which impose strict competition and transparency obligations on large online platforms. The US has argued that the framework is discriminatory, as most of the affected companies, including Microsoft, Google, Meta, and Amazon, are headquartered in the US. Breton played a key role in establishing the EU’s digital rulebook, which has been a point of contention between the two sides.

Tensions escalated after the EU Commission fined Elon Musk’s social media platform X €120 million ($130 million) earlier in December under the Digital Services Act. The US criticized the move as harmful to free speech and unfairly targeting an American company. In response, French President Emmanuel Macron stated that the US sanctions “amount to intimidation and coercion aimed at undermining European digital sovereignty.” He emphasized that the EU’s rules were adopted democratically and are designed to ensure fair competition among platforms without targeting any third country.

The EU Commission has also condemned the US move, warning that it “will respond swiftly and decisively to defend our regulatory autonomy against unjustified measures.” The rift between the US and EU over digital rules has been ongoing, with the US releasing a National Security Strategy document this month that warned the EU of potential “civilizational erasure” due to suppression of political opposition, curbs on free speech, and regulatory suffocation.

The dispute highlights the growing tensions between the US and EU over digital governance and regulation. The EU’s efforts to regulate big tech companies have been met with resistance from the US, which sees the measures as a threat to its economic interests. As the situation continues to unfold, it remains to be seen how the two sides will resolve their differences and find a way to balance their competing interests. The EU has made it clear that it will defend its regulatory autonomy, while the US is likely to continue pushing for a more favorable regulatory environment for its tech companies.