US Rejects Visas to Ex-EU Commissioner and Additional Figures Over Online Platform Policies
The US State Department declared it would deny visas to five individuals, among them a former EU commissioner, for reportedly seeking to "coerce" US-based online companies into silencing opinions they oppose.
"These radical activists and weaponized NGOs have advanced suppression campaigns by other governments - in each case focusing on American speakers and American companies," said US diplomat the official.
The former European tech regulator implied that a "witch hunt" was underway.
Officials labeled Breton as the "mastermind" of the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA), which imposes content moderation on social media firms.
A Contentious Law
However, it has angered some US conservatives who see it as seeking to censor right-wing opinions. EU authorities denies this.
Breton has clashed with the billionaire entrepreneur, owner of platform X, over obligations to adhere to European regulations.
The European Commission imposed a penalty on X €120m over its blue tick badges – the inaugural penalty under the DSA. Regulators stated the platform's system was "deceptive" because the firm was not "properly authenticating users".
As a countermove, Musk's site blocked the Commission from running advertisements on its platform.
Responses and Additional Restrictions
Reacting to the entry restriction, the former commissioner wrote on X: "Addressing the US: Censorship isn't where you think it is."
Clare Melford, who heads the British Global Disinformation Index (GDI), was included in the sanctions.
A senior US diplomat Sarah B Rogers accused the GDI of using American public funds "to encourage suppression and targeting of American speech and press".
A GDI spokesperson said the visa sanctions as "a repressive move on free speech and an egregious act of state-led suppression".
"Their actions today are immoral, illegal, and contrary to American values," they stated.
Imran Ahmed 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 "primary partner with efforts to weaponize the government against American people".
Also subject to bans were Anna-Lena von Hodenberg and Josephine Ballon of HateAid, which the US officials said aided in implementing the DSA.
Responding, the two leaders called it an "act of repression by a administration that is increasingly disregarding the rule of law".
"We refuse to be silenced by a state that uses accusations of censorship to silence those who defend human rights," they added.
Official Rationale
The Secretary of State stated that action was initiated to enact entry bans on "representatives of the international suppression network" who would be "typically prohibited from entering the United States".
"President Trump has been clear that his America First foreign policy rejects infringements of US autonomy. Extraterritorial overreach by foreign censors aimed at US expression is no exception," he affirmed.
