US Refuses Visas to Former European Union Official and Additional Figures Over Online Platform Rules
The US State Department announced it would deny visas to a group of five people, including a former EU commissioner, for allegedly seeking to "coerce" US-based online companies into silencing opinions they oppose.
"These individuals and aggressive non-profits have advanced suppression campaigns by other governments - in each case targeting American speakers and American companies," said Secretary of State the official.
The former European tech regulator remarked that a "witch hunt" was occurring.
Officials labeled Breton as the "key designer" of the European Union's online content law, which enforces speech regulations on digital platforms.
A Divisive Regulation
Yet, it has angered certain right-leaning Americans who view it as an attempt to silence right-wing opinions. Brussels rejects this characterization.
The official has been in conflict with the billionaire entrepreneur, the world's richest man, over obligations to adhere to European regulations.
The European Commission recently fined X 120 million euros over its verification system – the first fine under the DSA. It said the platform's system was "misleading" because the firm was not "meaningfully verifying users".
As a countermove, Musk's site prevented the Commission from running advertisements on its platform.
Reactions and Broader Bans
Responding to the entry restriction, Breton posted 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.
US Undersecretary of State Sarah B Rogers accused the GDI of using US taxpayer money "to exhort suppression and targeting of US expression and press".
A representative for the group characterized the visa sanctions as "an authoritarian attack on free expression and an egregious act of government censorship".
"Their actions today are immoral, illegal, and un-American," they stated.
Imran Ahmed of the an online hate watchdog, a nonprofit that combats online hate and false information, was similarly issued a ban.
The undersecretary labeled Mr Ahmed a "primary partner with campaigns to misuse the state apparatus against US citizens".
Also subject to bans were two executives of HateAid, which the US officials said aided in implementing the DSA.
In a statement, the two leaders called it an "attempt to silence by a administration that is showing disregard for the rule of law".
"We refuse to be silenced by a government that uses claims of suppression to muzzle those who stand up for human rights," they added.
Policy Justification
Rubio said that steps had been taken to impose visa restrictions on "representatives of the international suppression network" who would be "typically prohibited from entering the United States".
"The administration has been explicit that his national sovereignty diplomatic stance rejects infringements of US autonomy. Extraterritorial overreach by foreign censors targeting American speech is unacceptable," he affirmed.
