The United States Refuses Visas to Former European Union Official and Additional Figures Concerning Online Platform Policies
The US State Department declared it would deny visas to a group of five people, among them a ex-European Union official, for reportedly seeking to "force" US-based online companies into silencing viewpoints they oppose.
"These radical activists and weaponized NGOs have promoted suppression campaigns by other governments - in each case focusing on US voices and US firms," remarked US diplomat the official.
Thierry Breton suggested that a "witch hunt" was occurring.
Breton was described as the "key designer" of the European Union's online content law, which mandates content moderation on social media firms.
A Contentious Law
Yet, it has angered some US conservatives who see it as seeking to censor conservative viewpoints. EU authorities rejects this characterization.
The official has been in conflict with the billionaire entrepreneur, owner of platform X, over requirements to adhere to EU rules.
EU regulators recently fined X €120m over its verification system – the inaugural penalty under the DSA. Regulators stated the platform's system was "misleading" because the firm was not "properly authenticating users".
As a countermove, Musk's site prevented the Commission from running advertisements on its platform.
Reactions and Broader Bans
Responding to the visa ban, Breton posted on X: "To our American friends: Censorship does not lie where you think it is."
Clare Melford, who leads 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 exhort suppression and targeting of US expression and press".
A GDI spokesperson said the entry bans as "a repressive move on free expression and a blatant example of state-led suppression".
"Their actions today are unethical, illegal, and un-American," they stated.
Another figure of the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), a nonprofit that combats digital hatred and false information, was similarly issued a ban.
Rogers called Mr Ahmed a "key collaborator with efforts to misuse the state apparatus against US citizens".
Also subject to bans were Anna-Lena von Hodenberg and Josephine Ballon of a German organization, which the State Department said aided in implementing the DSA.
In a statement, the two CEOs described it as an "act of repression by a administration that is showing disregard for the rule of law".
"We refuse to be silenced by a state that uses accusations of censorship to muzzle those who defend human rights," they concluded.
Policy Justification
The Secretary of State stated that steps had been taken to enact visa restrictions on "representatives of the international suppression network" who would be "generally barred from entering the United States".
"President Trump has been clear that his America First foreign policy rejects violations of US autonomy. Foreign-imposed regulations by overseas regulators aimed at American speech is unacceptable," he affirmed.