The Trump administration’s bellicosity toward Europe has taken a sharp turn, with the sudden State Department announcement that multiple European Union citizens have been barred from entering the country for allegedly working to censor American content online. The now-banned “leading figures of the global censorship-industrial complex” are part of “organized efforts to coerce American platforms to punish American viewpoints they oppose,” said Secretary of State Marco Rubio on X. In response, the EU has warned it will retaliate against any “unjustified measures.” And all the while, digital denizens on both sides of the Atlantic are left to wonder if, and how, the international internet can be regulated at all.

‘Extraterritorial overreach’
The barred Europeans, all of whom have been involved in organizations promoting digital rights and countering disinformation, are “part of a Trump administration campaign against foreign influence over online speech,” said The Associated Press. That campaign focuses on “immigration law rather than platform regulations or sanctions.” 

European tech regulation, including the EU’s Digital Services Act and the U.K.’s Online Safety Act, has hit MAGA figures hard in two respects, said The Guardian: the “economic interests of Silicon Valley,” as well as their “view of free speech.” X owner Elon Musk faces a $140 million fine for breaching the DSA in one of the “prime examples” of what Republicans in the U.S. view as an “anti-free speech culture on the other side of the Atlantic.”

Under President Donald Trump, the “America First foreign policy rejects violations of American sovereignty,” said Rubio in a State Department press release. “Extraterritorial overreach by foreign censors targeting American speech is no exception.”

‘Long-running dispute’
The European Union “strongly condemns” the travel bans, which risk running counter to the “fundamental right” to freedom of expression, the group said in a statement. The travel ban, which includes former top EU technology regulator Thierry Breton, amounts to “intimidation and coercion” aimed at “undermining European digital sovereignty,” said French President Emmanuel Macron on X.

The administration’s ban “deepens a long-running dispute” between the U.S. and EU over the “major question” of “how do you regulate the internet?” said NPR host Ailsa Chang on “All Things Considered.” By banning “prominent individuals” like Breton from entering the U.S., he’s “now being treated the same way as an ISIS terrorist or a narcotrafficker would be,” said NPR’s Eleanor Beardsley in the same broadcast.

“Is McCarthy’s witch hunt back?” Breton asked on X. “To our American friends: Censorship isn’t where you think it is.”

“By 2030, if we don’t have models that are extraordinarily capable and do things that we ourselves cannot do, I would be very surprised,” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said to Politico in September. And the AI advances made since the start of 2025, said The Economist, could “set the world on a path of explosive growth.”

‘Charismatic megatrauma’ 
We have reached a “pivotal moment” in our relationship with artificial intelligence, said Idan Feingold at CTech. Over the last year, the AI hot potato has “evolved from a buzzword to the epicenter of every business conversation.” And there has been an unprecedented “surge” in productivity linked to AI innovation, with practical applications advancing at an unprecedented pace.

AI has “begun to settle like sediment into the corners of our lives,” said David Wallace-Wells at The New York Times. Following the “prophetic phase” that came after the 2023 release of ChatGPT, we have relaxed into “something more quotidian.” Like many other “charismatic megatraumas,” such as nuclear proliferation and climate change, AI retains the power to distress and disturb but no longer provokes mass hysteria.  

‘Genuine opportunities’ 
The “hype and the hopes around AI have been like nothing the world has seen before,” said The Economist. Audiences have “marveled” at ChatGPT’s abilities and been “mesmerized” by Sora 2’s generative video capabilities. And this fascination shows no signs of fading. More than $7 trillion will be spent on AI by the end of the decade, according to analysts’ predictions. 

Amid this flood of funding, sceptics are speculating about when the AI bubble might burst. But that may be “asking the wrong question,” said Jurica Dujmovic at MarketWatch. Don’t be misled by the 2000 dot-com crash. We are experiencing an “orderly deflation” rather than a sudden collapse. Amid the doom and gloom, the AI market still presents “genuine opportunities” for investors, operators and consumers. 

Focus is now “shifting” to the outlook for AI in 2026, especially concerning its commercial profitability, said The Economist. This coming year, expect reactions to be even more extreme, with “economic revival,” a “financial bust” and “social backlash” all possible.

Dancers participate in a parade of fish-shaped lanterns and traditional music through the historic village of Wangmantian within Huangshan City in Anhui Province, China. Fish symbolize abundance and good fortune, and the tradition of carp-like lanterns goes back over 600 years.
Shi Yalei / VCG / Getty Images

The streaming era has produced its share of pathologies, including bloated running times and narratives padded with filler. But the best TV dramas of this past year are a reminder that television has become our predominant cultural medium.

‘Dying for Sex’
Adapted from the documentary podcast of the same name, “Dying for Sex” stars Michelle Williams as Molly, who leaves her husband and embarks on a riotous journey of erotic discovery after her cancer comes back, this time with a terminal diagnosis. It’s “hilariously funny, guttingly sad and somehow also tingling with joy about the preciousness of life,” said The New Republic. (Hulu)

‘Forever’
Adapted from Judy Blume’s beloved novel, this is the rare series (pictured above) that can be enjoyed by both the YA demographic and adults. A “charming slow burn,” it’s “one of Netflix’s few shows to have a predominantly Black cast,” enabling it to be “specific in its exploration of the Black teen experience in America,” said The Cut. (Netflix)

‘The Narrow Road to the Deep North’
Most winners of the heady Man Booker Prize, like Richard Flanagan’s moving and brutal 2014 novel, aren’t easy adaptations. This translation is riveting. By depicting a group of people who experience World War II and “come away with very little greater understanding of life,” the series is “gorgeous, ugly and stirring, with parts that seared themselves into my brain,” said Slate. (Prime)