Former EU commissioner and activists barred from US

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/dec/24/us-state-department-visa-ban-former-eu-commissioner-europe

by robin_reala • 7 months ago

68 37 7 months ago

NicoJuicy3• 7 months ago

Well, that ain't as bad news/punishment as it used to be.

Not many people want to visit the US under Trump anymore and many countries already have travel advisories for the US now.

3D304974202• 7 months ago

Well, that ain't as bad news/punishment as it used to be.

Agreed. My company (which is smallish but quite international) has largely stopped meetups/conferences/etc. in the US because so many people either have to wait ages for a visa, or are from countries now on blacklists. This is not to mention the risk of getting randomly pulled by TSA/ICE/etc. I have to imagine this is much more widespread than just my company as well.

Fun to watch a superpower attempt self-destruction. /s Too bad it'll probably hurt all of us in some form or another.

stratom• 7 months ago

Same! The open source project I engage with, held the yearly conference always alternatingly in America and Europe over the past 10 years. And due to the current circumstances it was just recently decided to have next year's conference a 2nd time in a row in Europe.

NicoJuicy3• 7 months ago

Yeah. I work for an international company. Lots of US customers as well.

They are a Canadian company.

Travel to US is basically only on a per case basis.

scotty79• 7 months ago

I can be worse if US companies like VISA or Google are forced to not service this person like it was done with International Court of Justice judges.

JeanMarcS• 7 months ago

UN hq is in New York for exemple.

NicoJuicy3• 7 months ago

For now.

Trump has only been in power for a year.

Claims that multiple UN member states are discussing moving the HQ away from New York and to Montreal.

NY ain't MAGA either

NotGMan2• 7 months ago

At some point you need to draw a hard line in sand when it comes to people trying to actively supress freedom of expression.

Otherwise they just keep trying and trying. A bully won't stop until he gets punched in the face, and this is what the USA did to the EU bully bureaucrats pushing their will everywhere.

Shame that so few of us Europeans do the same.

jauntywundrkind• 7 months ago

Land of the free looking like rank shitty low cowards, afraid of every shadow these days. Absolutely no tolerance, demanding subservience. It's totally up-side down, just madcap that any of this is OK with anyone. All Correct turning to All In-Correct, all wrong.

drooopy• 7 months ago

If you wanna operate in a market you have to follow said market's rules and regulations, full stop and period. The only ones actively trying to suppress freedom of expression are the bullies and borderline sociopaths currently in the US executive.

cbeach4• 7 months ago

If you've ever read Thierry Breton's personal (and public) threats towards Elon Musk you'd understand who the real "bully and borderline sociopath" was.

Breton once threatened Musk simply for hosting an interview with the democratically-elected President of the US on X:

https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-elon-musk-donald-trump-in...

EU bureaucrats have behaved terribly and deserve our contempt.

3D304974202• 7 months ago

While I don't love over-regulation, and there certainly are some parts of the DSA which are probably over-broad, it is astonishingly rich that the current US administration is targeting the EU for "suppressing freedom of expression".

cbeach4• 7 months ago

In the UK we told the EU bully bureaucrats to go f*ck themselves in 2016.

The same thing is possible in all EU nations - never give up hope.

The EU bureaucracy stunts growth on the continent. It's undemocratic (only the executive can originate and repeal law - and they are appointed, not elected), protectionist, bullying, expensive and unnecessary.

Successful nations like Switzerland and Norway (#3 and #4 highest GDP per capita in the European continent) show that you don't need to be an EU member state to prosper, maintain peaceful government and strong human rights protections.

ykonstant• 7 months ago

Successful nations like Switzerland and Norway

I absolutely love the absence of the UK in your list.

derriz• 7 months ago

Also banned: “Imran Ahmed, the British CEO of the US-based Center for Countering Digital Hate; Anna-Lena von Hodenberg and Josephine Ballon of the German non-profit HateAid; and Clare Melford, co-founder of the Global Disinformation Index”

The bullies are anti-disinformation and anti-hate speech activists?

The USA using its diplomatic power to become a defender of hate-speech and disinformation?

I guess when JD Vance deliberately snubbed the democratically elected government of the country when visiting Germany and instead spent his time with a far-right neo-nazi party, it should have been clear which way the wind was blowing.

NotGMan2• 7 months ago

If you still in 2025 don't understand that hate speech and anti-disinformation is a trick used by people who want to forcefully censor others who don't agree with them then I don't know what to tell you.

N19PEDL2• 7 months ago

mensetmanusman• 7 months ago

Leading with a generic bit on misinformation will get major eye rolls after what happened during covid.

cbeach4• 7 months ago

As a European I’m pleased to see consequences for these arrogant unelected bureaucrats. Breton, in particular, seemed to delight in attacking free speech.

Breton once threatened Musk simply for hosting an interview with the democratically-elected President of the US on X:

https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-elon-musk-donald-trump-in...

blitzar2• 7 months ago

We all know the correct, American way to deal with democratically-elected Presidents of foreign nations is to overthrow them, bomb them or if all else fails assassinate them.

ojbyrne• 7 months ago

It would be cool to see the EU bar a few tech CEOs from travel to Europe, since they’re very clearly the people behind this. Say Zuckerberg and Musk. Tit for tat immigration restrictions seems like a hot upcoming idea.

hyperman1• 7 months ago

I'd rather not, because it would damage the power dynamic of the EU.

The USA is an all-powerfull political entity that can dictate terms on its own. A bit like a monopoly. Europe is a large group of players, condemned to each other, making parallel but not identical choices (e.g are you in/out/half part of the EU).

This changes the way you talk to others, as you'll need to talk to them again, and the power dynamic will have shifted.

So the USA knows it's the best at everything, and will loudly declare it. Most inhabitants only have second hand impressions from other cultures.

European countries each know they individually are the best, but there are tons of neighbours with near status, so it's impolite to say it loud. If differences get big, you can't help but notice next time you enter a neighbour.

The neverending wars, culminating in WWI and WWII, tought everyone what happened when you stop communicating and start ordering. A lot of our politics is trying not to restart that and working together with others who we don't like very much. The EU is but one such project, and if we're honest, the USA pushing for stability was one helper in the past.

One way to look at Trump is: Can we Europeans deal with each others as adults when the big USA stick has disappeared. And can we talk to a partner who seems to have gone mad temporarily but might come back ?

fakedang2• 7 months ago

Can we Europeans deal with each others as adults when the big USA stick has disappeared. And can we talk to a partner who seems to have gone mad temporarily but might come back ?

There's always a bigger bully for the EU for it to go back to bickering within itself. USA, Russia, later China, maybe Turkey and the rest of the MENA down the line....

letsthinkmoreok• 7 months ago

Like the founder of telegram?

nutjob2• 7 months ago

The EU should target US oligarchs like it does Russian ones insofar that they support Trump's hostilities toward the EU.

Musk is probably the most obvious candidate for this, but there are several others.

wdb• 7 months ago

Sounds like it's working then

schubidubiduba• 7 months ago

Of course, they dared to impede the US social media propaganda machine. How could they.

rchaud• 7 months ago

Hey, it could be worse. They could have voted to ban it entirely unless they sold their European operations to friends of EU bureaucrats. There's some precedent for that now.

ChrisArchitect• 7 months ago

[dupe] Earlier: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46370787

fredthompson• 7 months ago

So... EU demands US follow EU dictats = good US demands EU follow US dictats = bad got it.

ragebol• 7 months ago

Impartant context: EU demands US follow EU law on EU soil for EU consumers.

EU stuff must abie by US law when going to the US, vice versa as well.

silexia• 7 months ago

The EU is not a democracy now but a government run by bureaucrats who jail opponents for having dissenting opinions.

flowerthoughts• 7 months ago

I wasn't aware of that. Example?

blitzar2• 7 months ago

The chants of "lock her [their political opponents] up" ring out from their rallies.

Former EU commissioner and activists barred from US

Related Stories