US Refuses Entry Permits to Ex-EU Commissioner and Additional Figures Concerning Social Media Policies
The US State Department stated it would deny visas to a group of five people, including a ex-European Union official, for allegedly seeking to "force" American online companies into curtailing perspectives they disagree with.
"These radical activists and weaponized NGOs have advanced censorship crackdowns by other governments - in each case targeting US voices and US firms," stated US diplomat Marco Rubio.
Thierry Breton implied that a "witch hunt" was underway.
Officials labeled Breton as the "architect" of the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA), which enforces speech regulations on social media firms.
A Contentious Law
Yet, it has angered certain right-leaning Americans who see it as seeking to censor right-wing opinions. EU authorities denies this.
The official has been in conflict with Elon Musk, owner of platform X, over obligations to follow EU rules.
EU regulators imposed a penalty on X €120m over its verification system – the inaugural penalty under the DSA. Regulators stated the platform's system was "deceptive" because the firm was not "properly authenticating users".
As a countermove, Musk's site prevented the European body from running advertisements on its platform.
Responses and Additional Restrictions
Reacting to the visa ban, Breton posted on X: "Addressing the US: Censorship isn't where you think it is."
Clare Melford, who heads the British 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 exhort censorship and blacklisting of US expression and media".
A representative for the group said the entry bans as "a repressive move on free expression and a blatant example of state-led suppression".
"Their actions today are immoral, illegal, and contrary to American values," the spokesperson added.
Imran Ahmed of the an online hate watchdog, a non-governmental organization that combats digital hatred and misinformation, was similarly issued a ban.
The undersecretary labeled Mr Ahmed a "primary partner with campaigns to weaponize the state apparatus against American people".
Also subject to bans were Anna-Lena von Hodenberg and Josephine Ballon of a German organization, which the US officials said aided in implementing the DSA.
Responding, the two CEOs called it an "attempt to silence by a administration that is increasingly disregarding the legal principles".
"We refuse to be silenced by a government that uses claims of suppression to silence those who stand up for human rights," they added.
Official Rationale
The Secretary of State stated that steps had been taken to impose entry bans 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 America First diplomatic stance rejects infringements of American sovereignty. Extraterritorial overreach by foreign censors targeting American speech is unacceptable," he added.
