US Denies Visas to Ex-EU Commissioner and Others Concerning Online Platform Policies
American diplomatic officials declared it would refuse entry permits to five individuals, including a ex-European Union official, for reportedly seeking to "force" American social media platforms into curtailing perspectives they oppose.
"These radical activists and aggressive non-profits have advanced suppression campaigns by other governments - in each case focusing on US voices and American companies," said US diplomat the official.
The former European tech regulator suggested that a "witch hunt" was occurring.
Officials labeled Breton as the "architect" 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 view it as seeking to censor conservative viewpoints. Brussels denies this.
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 first fine under the DSA. It said the platform's system was "misleading" because the firm was not "properly authenticating users".
As a countermove, Musk's site prevented the European body from making adverts on its platform.
Reactions and Broader Bans
Reacting to the entry restriction, the former commissioner wrote on X: "Addressing the US: Speech suppression isn't where you think it is."
Clare Melford, who leads the UK-based Global Disinformation Index (GDI), was also listed.
A senior US diplomat the official alleged the GDI of using American public funds "to exhort censorship and targeting of US expression and press".
A representative for the group said the entry bans as "an authoritarian attack on free expression and an egregious act of government censorship".
"These measures today are unethical, unlawful, and un-American," the spokesperson added.
Imran Ahmed of the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), a nonprofit that fights digital hatred and misinformation, was similarly issued a ban.
The undersecretary called Mr Ahmed a "primary partner with efforts to misuse the government against American people".
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 leaders described it as an "attempt to silence by a administration that is showing disregard for the legal principles".
"We will not be intimidated by a government that uses claims of suppression to muzzle those who defend human rights," they added.
Official Rationale
The Secretary of State stated that steps had been taken to impose visa restrictions on "representatives of the global censorship-industrial complex" who would be "generally barred from entering the United States".
"The administration has been clear that his America First diplomatic stance rejects infringements of American sovereignty. Extraterritorial overreach by foreign censors targeting US expression is unacceptable," he affirmed.
