France slams US visa ban as row over European 'censorship' deepens

France condemned on Wednesday a U.S. visa ban on Thierry Breton, a former European Union commissioner who helped drive landmark online regulation that Washington believes censors free speech and unfairly targets U.S. tech giants.



The Trump administration imposed visa bans on Tuesday on Breton, one of the architects of the EU's Digital Services Act, and other anti-disinformation campaigners who it says were involved in censoring U.S. social media platforms.



The visa bans underline growing divergences between Washington and some European capitals over issues including free speech, defence, immigration, far-right politics, trade and the Russia-Ukraine war.