The United States Rejects Entry Permits to Former European Union Official and Additional Figures Concerning Online Platform Rules
The US State Department announced it would deny visas to a group of five people, among them a former EU commissioner, for reportedly seeking to "pressure" American online companies into suppressing perspectives they disagree with.
"These individuals and weaponized NGOs have promoted suppression campaigns by foreign states - in each case focusing on American speakers and American companies," remarked Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The former European tech regulator implied that a "witch hunt" was underway.
Officials labeled Breton as the "architect" of the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA), which enforces content moderation on social media firms.
A Contentious Law
However, the act has frustrated some US conservatives who see it as seeking to censor right-wing opinions. EU authorities rejects this characterization.
Breton has clashed with the billionaire entrepreneur, the world's richest man, over obligations to follow European regulations.
The European Commission imposed a penalty on X 120 million euros over its blue tick badges – the first fine under the DSA. It said the platform's system was "deceptive" because the firm was not "properly authenticating users".
In response, Musk's site prevented the European body from making adverts on its platform.
Reactions and Broader Bans
Responding to the entry restriction, the former commissioner wrote on X: "To our American friends: Speech suppression does not lie 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 accused 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 "an authoritarian attack on free speech and a blatant example of state-led suppression".
"These measures today are immoral, illegal, and un-American," the spokesperson added.
Another figure of the an online hate watchdog, a non-governmental organization that fights digital hatred and misinformation, was similarly issued a ban.
The undersecretary labeled Mr Ahmed a "primary partner with campaigns to weaponize the government against US citizens".
Also subject to bans were two executives of a German organization, which the US officials said helped enforce the DSA.
In a statement, the two CEOs described it as an "act of repression by a administration that is increasingly disregarding the rule of law".
"We will not be intimidated by a state that uses claims of suppression to silence those who stand up for human rights," they concluded.
Policy Justification
Rubio said that action was initiated to impose visa restrictions on "agents of the global censorship-industrial complex" who would be "generally barred from entering the United States".
"The administration has been explicit that his America First foreign policy rejects infringements of American sovereignty. Foreign-imposed regulations by foreign censors targeting US expression is no exception," he affirmed.
