The State Department is barring five “egregious” European figures in the “global censorship-industrial complex” from entering the US, it revealed Tuesday.
State Department officials contended that those five Europeans flouted a visa policy rolled out in May restricting those who work to censor protected speech in the US from entering the country.
“For far too long, ideologues in Europe have led organized efforts to coerce American platforms to punish American viewpoints they oppose,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared Tuesday.
“The Trump Administration will no longer tolerate these egregious acts of extraterritorial censorship. Today, [the State Department] will take steps to bar leading figures of the global censorship-industrial complex from entering the United States.”
“We stand ready and willing to expand this list if others do not reverse course.”
The five Europeans blocked from entering the US are: former EU Commissioner Thierry Breton; Imran Ahmed, chief executive of the Centre for Countering Digital Hate; Clare Melford, who is in charge of the Global Disinformation Index; Josephine Ballon and Anna-Lena von Hodenberg, leaders at the Germany-based HateAid.
Sarah Rogers, the under secretary of state for public diplomacy, revealed the five Europeans being blocked on Tuesday.
“Our message is clear: if you spend your career fomenting censorship of American speech, you’re unwelcome on American soil,” she posted on X.
“Our targets are foreign, but you’ll notice that some collaborated with U.S. bureaucrats on Murthy-style speech suppression. Don’t worry: we’re pursuing transparency, truth, and reconciliation at the [State Department] too.”
Rogers singled out Breton as “a mastermind of the Digital Services Act” and recounted how “he published a letter using the DSA to threaten” tech baron Elon Musk before his interview with President Trump. Breton also announced an investigation into X in late 2023.
The EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) has a sweeping set of regulations against social media companies, including on their content moderation policies.
Earlier this month, the EU fined X €120 million for allegedly flouting its transparency obligations under the Digital Services Act, stirring outrage from the Trump administration.
Musk had mended fences with Trump after the epic falling out earlier this year, and the president’s allies were miffed by the Europeans targeting an American company like that.
Breton and a myriad of prominent European voices fired back at the Trump administration over the penalty.
“Is McCarthy’s witch hunt back? As a reminder: 90% of the European Parliament — our democratically elected body — and all 27 Member States unanimously voted the DSA,” Breton shot back.
“To our American friends: ‘Censorship isn’t where you think it is.’”
Technically, many Europeans are subject to the Visa Waiver Program and might not need visas to actually enter the US.
It’s not fully clear if the applications Europeans must fill out before entering the US under the Visa Waiver Program will block the five sanctioned individuals from setting foot on American soil.
