Trump bans two British social media campaigners from US as censorship row escalates
Two Britons campaigning against misinformation and hate speech online have been refused US visas after they were accused of trying to “censor” Americans as the UK government reaffirmed its position to “support the right to free expression”.
Former Labor adviser and Sir Keir Starmer ally Imran Ahmed, who now chairs the Center to Counter Digital Hate (CCDH), and Clare Melford, chief executive of the Global Disinformation Index (GDI), have been labeled “radical activists” by the Trump administration.
The duo were among five Europeans banned from entering the United States, including European Commissioner Thierry Breton.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said they were leading “organized efforts to force American platforms to censor, demonize and suppress American viewpoints they oppose.”
He added: “These radical activists and weaponized NGOs have advanced censorship crackdowns by foreign governments, invariably targeting American speakers and American companies.”
Mr Ahmed was previously deputy to Labor Secretary Hilary Benn, and Sir Keir’s influential private secretary Morgan McSweeney served as a director at the CCDH until 2020. Ahmed is reportedly working in the group’s Washington office and will face deportation from the country due to the visa ban.
The visa bans are the latest move in the US campaign against European rules aimed at regulating social media. Trump officials have ordered US diplomats to mount opposition to the European Union’s landmark Digital Services Act (DSA), which aims to combat hate speech, misinformation and disinformation, but which Washington says stifles free speech and imposes costs on technology companies.
French former business executive Thierry Breton, who served as Europe’s commissioner for the internal market from 2019 to 2024, was among those now banned from entering the United States.
Visa applications for two senior figures from the German non-profit organization HateAid were also rejected.
Following the ban, the UK government said it was “fully committed to protecting the right to freedom of expression”, and a spokesperson said: “While each country has the right to set its own visa rules, we support the laws and institutions that work to keep the internet free from the most harmful contacts.
“Social media platforms should not be used to spread child sexual abuse material, promote hatred and violence, or disseminate false information and videos for this purpose.”
A European Commission spokesman said it “strongly condemns the US decision”, adding: “Freedom of expression is a fundamental right in Europe and a fundamental value shared with the US in the democratic world”.
French President Emmanuel Macron said: “These measures amount to intimidation and pressure aimed at undermining Europe’s digital sovereignty.” He said the EU’s digital regulations would “ensure fair competition between platforms without targeting a third country and ensure that what is illegal offline is also illegal online”.
In another statement on social media platform X, he added that he had spoken to Mr Breton and “thanked him for his significant contribution to the service of Europe”.
Meanwhile, Germany’s justice ministry said the two targeted Germans had the “support and solidarity” of the government. Adding that visa bans are unacceptable, the officials said, “Anyone who describes this as censorship is misrepresenting our constitutional system.”
Terrorism law watchdog Jonathan Hall KC said the US imposition of sanctions was a “significant move”.
“Sanctions are generally used for really serious foreign policy issues where a country feels its interests are seriously threatened or the world order is threatened,” the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation told Times Radio.
