US Denies Entry Permits to Ex-EU Commissioner and Additional Figures Regarding Online Platform Regulations
The US State Department stated it would deny visas to five individuals, including a ex-European Union official, for reportedly seeking to "coerce" US-based social media platforms into silencing opinions they disagree with.
"These radical activists and weaponized NGOs have promoted suppression campaigns by other governments - in each case targeting US voices and American companies," stated US diplomat the official.
Thierry Breton implied that a "witch hunt" was taking place.
Breton was described as the "architect" of the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA), which imposes content moderation on digital platforms.
A Contentious Law
Yet, the act has frustrated certain right-leaning Americans who see it as seeking to censor conservative viewpoints. Brussels denies this.
Breton has clashed with the billionaire entrepreneur, owner of platform X, over obligations to follow EU rules.
EU regulators imposed a penalty on X 120 million euros over its blue tick badges – the inaugural penalty under the DSA. It said the platform's system was "misleading" because the firm was not "meaningfully verifying users".
As a countermove, the platform prevented the Commission from running advertisements on its platform.
Responses and Additional Restrictions
Reacting to the entry restriction, Breton posted on X: "To our American friends: Speech suppression isn't where you think it is."
Another listed individual, who heads the UK-based Global Disinformation Index (GDI), was included in the sanctions.
A senior US diplomat Sarah B Rogers alleged the GDI of using US taxpayer money "to encourage censorship and blacklisting of US expression and press".
A GDI spokesperson characterized the entry bans as "a repressive move on free speech and a blatant example of state-led suppression".
"These measures today are unethical, unlawful, and contrary to American values," they stated.
Imran Ahmed of the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), a nonprofit that combats digital hatred and misinformation, was also handed a ban.
The undersecretary labeled Mr Ahmed a "key collaborator with campaigns to misuse the state apparatus against US citizens".
Also subject to bans were two executives of HateAid, which the US officials said aided in implementing the DSA.
In a statement, the two leaders described it as an "attempt to silence by a administration that is increasingly disregarding the rule of law".
"We refuse to be silenced by a government that uses claims of suppression to muzzle those who stand up for human rights," they added.
Policy Justification
Rubio said that steps had been taken to enact visa restrictions on "representatives of the global censorship-industrial complex" who would be "generally barred from entering the United States".
"The administration has been clear that his national sovereignty foreign policy rejects violations of American sovereignty. Foreign-imposed regulations by foreign censors targeting American speech is no exception," he added.