Former EU commissioner and activists barred from US

(theguardian.com)

53 points | by robin_reala 7 hours ago ago

24 comments

  • ojbyrne 2 hours ago 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 an hour ago 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 ?

    • letsthinkmoreok an hour ago ago

      Like the founder of telegram?

  • schubidubiduba 2 hours ago ago

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

    • rchaud an hour ago 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.

  • wdb 2 hours ago ago

    Sounds like it's working then

  • N19PEDL2 5 hours ago ago
  • ChrisArchitect an hour ago ago
  • mensetmanusman 3 hours ago ago

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

  • NicoJuicy 6 hours ago 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.

    • 3D30497420 6 hours ago 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 5 hours ago 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.

      • NicoJuicy 2 hours ago 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 4 hours ago 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 3 hours ago ago

      UN hq is in New York for exemple.

  • jeroenhd 6 hours ago ago

    [flagged]

    • scotty79 4 hours ago ago

      > cannot afford the war against Putin without American help

      Yet. And the US gov shows clear intent that it should remain so.

  • cbeach 3 hours ago 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...

    • blitzar an hour ago 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.

  • NotGMan 6 hours ago 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.

    • 3D30497420 6 hours ago 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".

    • jauntywundrkind 6 hours ago 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 6 hours ago 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.

      • cbeach 2 hours ago 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.