The United States Denies Visas to Ex-EU Commissioner and Others Concerning Social Media Rules
The US State Department stated it would refuse entry permits to a group of five people, among them a ex-European Union official, for reportedly seeking to "pressure" American social media platforms into suppressing viewpoints they oppose.
"These radical activists and weaponized NGOs have promoted suppression campaigns by other governments - in each case focusing on American speakers and US firms," remarked US diplomat the official.
Thierry Breton implied that a "witch hunt" was taking place.
Officials labeled Breton as the "key designer" of the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA), which mandates content moderation on digital platforms.
A Contentious Law
Yet, the act has frustrated some US conservatives who see it as an attempt to silence right-wing opinions. EU authorities denies this.
Breton has clashed with the billionaire entrepreneur, the world's richest man, over obligations to adhere to EU rules.
The European Commission 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, Musk's site blocked the European body from making adverts on its platform.
Responses and Additional Restrictions
Reacting to the entry restriction, the former commissioner wrote on X: "Addressing the US: Censorship does not lie where you think it is."
Clare Melford, who leads the British Global Disinformation Index (GDI), was included in the sanctions.
US Undersecretary of State the official accused the GDI of using US taxpayer money "to encourage censorship and blacklisting of American speech and press".
A representative for the group said the entry bans as "an authoritarian attack on free expression and a blatant example of state-led suppression".
"These measures today are unethical, illegal, and contrary to American values," the spokesperson added.
Another figure of the an online hate watchdog, a nonprofit that fights online hate and false information, was similarly issued a ban.
Rogers called Mr Ahmed a "key collaborator with campaigns to misuse the state apparatus against American people".
Also subject to bans were Anna-Lena von Hodenberg and Josephine Ballon of HateAid, which the US officials said helped enforce the DSA.
Responding, the two CEOs called it an "act of repression by a government that is increasingly disregarding the rule of law".
"We will not be intimidated by a state that uses accusations of censorship to muzzle those who stand up for human rights," they concluded.
Policy Justification
The Secretary of State stated that steps had been taken to enact visa restrictions on "representatives of the global censorship-industrial complex" who would be "typically prohibited from entering the United States".
"The administration has been explicit that his national sovereignty foreign policy rejects violations of American sovereignty. Extraterritorial overreach by foreign censors targeting American speech is no exception," he affirmed.
