The United States Rejects Visas to Ex-EU Commissioner and Others Concerning Online Platform Policies
The US State Department declared it would deny visas to five individuals, including a ex-European Union official, for allegedly seeking to "force" US-based social media platforms into silencing viewpoints they oppose.
"These radical activists and aggressive non-profits have advanced suppression campaigns by foreign states - in each case targeting US voices and American companies," stated Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The former European tech regulator implied that a "targeted campaign" was underway.
Officials labeled Breton as the "key designer" of the European Union's online content law, which mandates content moderation on social media firms.
A Contentious Law
Yet, the act has frustrated certain right-leaning Americans who view it as seeking to censor conservative viewpoints. Brussels denies this.
The official has been in conflict with Elon Musk, the world's richest man, over requirements to follow European regulations.
EU regulators imposed a penalty on X €120m over its blue tick badges – the inaugural penalty under the DSA. It said the platform's system was "deceptive" because the firm was not "properly authenticating users".
In response, the platform prevented the European body from running advertisements on its platform.
Responses and Additional Restrictions
Responding to the visa ban, the former commissioner wrote on X: "Addressing the US: Censorship isn't where you think it is."
Clare Melford, who leads the UK-based disinformation research group, was included in the sanctions.
US Undersecretary of State Sarah B Rogers alleged the GDI of using US taxpayer money "to exhort censorship and blacklisting of American speech and press".
A representative for the group said the visa sanctions as "an authoritarian attack on free expression and a blatant example of state-led suppression".
"These measures today are unethical, illegal, and un-American," they stated.
Another figure of the an online hate watchdog, a non-governmental organization that fights online hate and false information, was similarly issued a ban.
Rogers called Mr Ahmed a "primary partner with efforts to misuse the state apparatus against American people".
Additionally facing restrictions were Anna-Lena von Hodenberg and Josephine Ballon of HateAid, which the US officials said helped enforce the DSA.
In a statement, the two leaders called it an "attempt to silence by a government that is showing disregard for the rule of law".
"We will not be intimidated by a state that uses accusations of censorship to silence those who defend human rights," they concluded.
Official Rationale
Rubio said that steps had been taken to impose entry bans on "representatives of the international suppression network" who would be "generally barred from entering the United States".
"President Trump has been explicit that his national sovereignty foreign policy opposes infringements of American sovereignty. Foreign-imposed regulations by foreign censors aimed at US expression is no exception," he added.