US Refuses Visas to Former European Union Official and Additional Figures Over Social Media Policies
The US State Department declared it would deny visas to a group of five people, including a ex-European Union official, for allegedly seeking to "pressure" US-based online companies into suppressing opinions they disagree with.
"These radical activists and weaponized NGOs have advanced suppression campaigns by other governments - in each case targeting US voices and US firms," remarked US diplomat Marco Rubio.
The former European tech regulator implied that a "targeted campaign" was occurring.
Officials labeled Breton as the "architect" of the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA), which mandates content moderation on social media firms.
A Divisive Regulation
Yet, the act has frustrated certain right-leaning Americans who see it as seeking to censor conservative viewpoints. Brussels denies this.
Breton has clashed with the billionaire entrepreneur, the world's richest man, over obligations to adhere to European regulations.
EU regulators 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".
In response, the platform blocked the Commission from running advertisements on its platform.
Responses and Additional Restrictions
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 British Global Disinformation Index (GDI), was also listed.
A senior US diplomat the official accused the GDI of using American public funds "to encourage suppression and targeting of US expression and media".
A representative for the group said the visa sanctions as "an authoritarian attack on free speech and an egregious act of state-led suppression".
"These measures today are unethical, illegal, and un-American," the spokesperson added.
Imran Ahmed of the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), a nonprofit that combats online hate and false information, was also handed a ban.
The undersecretary called Mr Ahmed a "primary partner with campaigns to weaponize the state apparatus against US citizens".
Also subject to bans were Anna-Lena von Hodenberg and Josephine Ballon of HateAid, which the State Department said aided in implementing the DSA.
In a statement, the two leaders called it an "attempt to silence by a government that is increasingly disregarding the legal principles".
"We will not be intimidated by a government that uses accusations of censorship to muzzle those who defend fundamental freedoms," they added.
Official Rationale
Rubio said that action was initiated to impose entry bans on "representatives of the international suppression network" who would be "generally barred from entering the United States".
"The administration has been clear that his national sovereignty foreign policy rejects violations of American sovereignty. Foreign-imposed regulations by overseas regulators targeting US expression is no exception," he added.
