The United States Rejects Visas to Ex-EU Commissioner and Additional Figures Concerning Social Media Policies
The US State Department announced it would deny visas to a group of five people, among them a former EU commissioner, for allegedly seeking to "coerce" American online companies into curtailing perspectives they disagree with.
"These individuals and weaponized NGOs have promoted censorship crackdowns by other governments - in each case targeting American speakers and American companies," said US diplomat Marco Rubio.
The former European tech regulator remarked that a "witch hunt" was underway.
Breton was described as the "mastermind" of the European Union's online content law, which imposes content moderation on social media firms.
A Divisive Regulation
Yet, the act has frustrated some US conservatives who view it as seeking to censor right-wing opinions. Brussels denies this.
The official has been in conflict with Elon Musk, the world's richest man, over obligations to adhere to European regulations.
The European Commission recently fined X €120m over its verification system – the first fine under the DSA. Regulators stated the platform's system was "deceptive" because the firm was not "properly authenticating users".
In response, the platform blocked the European body from running advertisements on its platform.
Responses and Additional Restrictions
Reacting to the entry restriction, Breton posted on X: "To our American friends: Speech suppression does not lie where you think it is."
Clare Melford, who heads 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 suppression and blacklisting of American speech and media".
A representative for the group said the entry bans as "a repressive move on free speech and an egregious act of state-led suppression".
"These measures today are immoral, illegal, and un-American," they stated.
Another figure of the an online hate watchdog, a nonprofit that combats online hate and misinformation, was similarly issued a ban.
The undersecretary called Mr Ahmed a "key collaborator with campaigns to weaponize the government against American people".
Additionally facing restrictions were two executives of a German organization, which the US officials said helped enforce the DSA.
Responding, the two CEOs called it an "act of repression by a government that is showing disregard for the rule of law".
"We refuse to be silenced by a state that uses claims of suppression to muzzle those who stand up for human rights," they added.
Policy Justification
Rubio said that action was initiated to enact entry bans on "agents of the global censorship-industrial complex" who would be "typically prohibited from entering the United States".
"President Trump has been clear that his national sovereignty foreign policy rejects violations of American sovereignty. Foreign-imposed regulations by overseas regulators aimed at American speech is no exception," he affirmed.
