French President Emmanuel Macron wrote to Donald Trump asking his US counterpart to lift sanctions imposed on officials including former European Union Commissioner Thierry Breton.
The US placed visa bans on Breton and several activists in December for trying to police online hate speech with “extraterritorial censorship.” At the time, Macron condemned the move as an act of intimidation undermining Europe's sovereignty.
“The sanctions adopted against Thierry Breton undermine European regulatory autonomy and are, moreover, based on erroneous analysis: European digital regulation has no extraterritorial reach and applies without discrimination, within European territory, to all companies concerned,” Macron said, according to extracts of the letter published on Sunday by La Tribune Dimanche.
A spokesperson for the Elysee palace confirmed the letter.
Macron is preparing to challenge Trump over social media and free speech by making it a central priority for the French presidency of the Group of Seven this year. He is pushing for restrictions on children accessing social media and said last week he would discuss the issue directly with US president.
In the letter to Trump, Macron also asked for the lifting of sanctions on a French magistrate over the International Criminal Court issuing arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the nation's former defense minister.
“The sanctions adopted against Nicolas Guillou undermine the principle of judicial independence and the mandate of the ICC,” Macron said in the letter.
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