US bars five Europeans it says pressured tech firms to censor American viewpoints online
The State Department announced Tuesday that it had banned five Europeans it accused of leading efforts to pressure U.S. tech firms to censor or suppress American viewpoints.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio did not name people who he said were in violation of a new visa policy announced in May to restrict entry to foreigners deemed responsible for censoring protected speech in the United States. He described them only as “radical” activists and “armed” non-governmental organizations.
“For too long, ideologues in Europe have led organized efforts to force American platforms to punish American viewpoints they oppose,” Rubio wrote in X. “The Trump Administration will no longer tolerate these egregious acts of cross-border censorship.”
The five Europeans were later identified in a series of posts on social media by Sarah Rogers, the state department’s undersecretary of state for public diplomacy. They include a former European Union commissioner and leaders of organizations fighting digital hate.
Rubio said in his statement that they are advancing foreign government censorship campaigns against Americans and U.S. companies, creating “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences” for the United States.
The action to get them into the US is part of the Trump administration’s campaign against foreign influence on online speech, using immigration law rather than platform regulations or sanctions.
The five people named by Rogers are: Imran Ahmed, executive director of the Center to Counter Digital Hate; Josephine Ballon and Anna-Lena von Hodenberg, leaders of HateAid, a German organization; former EU Commissioner for digital affairs Thierry Breton; and Clare Melford, who runs the Global Disinformation Index.
Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, targeted individuals will generally be barred from entering the United States, and some may face deportation proceedings if they are already in the country. The administration may expand the list if similar foreign actions continue, officials said.
Most Europeans are covered by the Visa Waiver Scheme; This means that they do not necessarily need a visa to come into the country. However, the individuals were required to complete an online application before arriving under a system run by the Department of Homeland Security, so it is possible that at least some of those five were flagged at DHS, said a U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss nonpublic details.
Other visa restriction policies were also announced this year, along with bans targeting foreign visitors from certain African and Middle Eastern countries and the Palestinian Authority. Visitors from some countries may be required to provide financial security when applying for a visa.
___
Associated Press Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee contributed to this report.
