US Refuses Visas to Former European Union Official and Additional Figures Concerning Online Platform Regulations
The US State Department announced it would deny visas to a group of five people, including a ex-European Union official, for allegedly seeking to "force" US-based social media platforms into silencing viewpoints they oppose.
"These radical activists and weaponized NGOs have advanced suppression campaigns by other governments - in each case targeting American speakers and US firms," remarked US diplomat Marco Rubio.
The former European tech regulator suggested that a "targeted campaign" was occurring.
Officials labeled Breton as the "mastermind" of the European Union's online content law, which enforces speech regulations on social media firms.
A Contentious Law
Yet, it has angered some US conservatives who view it as an attempt to silence right-wing opinions. EU authorities rejects this characterization.
Breton has clashed with Elon Musk, the world's richest man, over requirements to adhere to European regulations.
The European Commission recently fined X €120m over its blue tick badges – the inaugural penalty under the DSA. Regulators stated the platform's system was "misleading" because the firm was not "meaningfully verifying users".
In response, the platform blocked the European body from making adverts on its platform.
Reactions and Broader Bans
Reacting to the entry restriction, the former commissioner wrote on X: "To our American friends: Censorship does not lie where you think it is."
Another listed individual, who leads the UK-based Global Disinformation Index (GDI), was included in the sanctions.
A senior US diplomat the official accused the GDI of using US taxpayer money "to exhort suppression and blacklisting of US expression and press".
A representative for the group said the entry bans as "an authoritarian attack on free speech and an egregious act of state-led suppression".
"Their actions today are unethical, unlawful, and un-American," the spokesperson added.
Imran Ahmed of the an online hate watchdog, a non-governmental organization that fights online hate and misinformation, was similarly issued a ban.
The undersecretary called Mr Ahmed a "primary partner with efforts to weaponize the government against American people".
Additionally facing restrictions were two executives of a German organization, which the State Department said helped enforce the DSA.
Responding, the two CEOs called it an "attempt to silence by a government that is showing disregard for the legal principles".
"We refuse to be silenced by a state that uses accusations of censorship to silence those who defend human rights," they added.
Policy Justification
The Secretary of State stated that steps had been taken to enact visa restrictions on "agents of the international suppression network" who would be "generally barred from entering the United States".
"President Trump has been explicit that his national sovereignty foreign policy opposes violations of American sovereignty. Extraterritorial overreach by overseas regulators aimed at US expression is no exception," he affirmed.