🔗 Share this article The United States Refuses Entry Permits to Ex-EU Commissioner and Others Regarding Online Platform Rules The former top tech regulator, has previously clashed with the owner of platform X. The US State Department announced it would refuse entry permits to five individuals, including a ex-European Union official, for reportedly seeking to "pressure" US-based social media platforms into suppressing viewpoints they oppose. "These individuals and weaponized NGOs have promoted censorship crackdowns by other governments - in each case focusing on US voices and US firms," stated US diplomat Marco Rubio. The former European tech regulator implied that a "witch hunt" was taking place. Officials labeled Breton as the "mastermind" of the European Union's online content law, which enforces content moderation on digital platforms. A Contentious Law However, it has angered some US conservatives who see it as an attempt to silence right-wing opinions. Brussels rejects this characterization. The official has been in conflict with Elon Musk, owner of platform X, over obligations to adhere to EU rules. 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". In response, Musk's site blocked the European body 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 heads the UK-based disinformation research group, was included in the sanctions. A senior US diplomat Sarah B Rogers alleged the GDI of using American public funds "to exhort suppression and targeting of US expression and media". A GDI spokesperson said the visa sanctions as "a repressive move on free speech and a blatant example of state-led suppression". "These measures today are unethical, illegal, and un-American," the spokesperson added. Imran Ahmed of the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), a nonprofit that fights online hate and false information, was also handed a ban. The undersecretary labeled Mr Ahmed a "key collaborator with efforts to weaponize the state apparatus against American people". Also subject to bans were two executives of a German organization, which the US officials said helped enforce the DSA. In a statement, the two CEOs described it as an "act of repression by a administration that is showing disregard for the legal principles". "We will not be intimidated by a state that uses accusations of censorship to muzzle those who stand up for fundamental freedoms," they concluded. Official Rationale The Secretary of State stated that action was initiated to impose visa restrictions on "representatives of the global censorship-industrial complex" who would be "generally barred from entering the United States". "The administration has been explicit that his America First diplomatic stance opposes infringements of US autonomy. Extraterritorial overreach by foreign censors targeting American speech is no exception," he added.
The former top tech regulator, has previously clashed with the owner of platform X. The US State Department announced it would refuse entry permits to five individuals, including a ex-European Union official, for reportedly seeking to "pressure" US-based social media platforms into suppressing viewpoints they oppose. "These individuals and weaponized NGOs have promoted censorship crackdowns by other governments - in each case focusing on US voices and US firms," stated US diplomat Marco Rubio. The former European tech regulator implied that a "witch hunt" was taking place. Officials labeled Breton as the "mastermind" of the European Union's online content law, which enforces content moderation on digital platforms. A Contentious Law However, it has angered some US conservatives who see it as an attempt to silence right-wing opinions. Brussels rejects this characterization. The official has been in conflict with Elon Musk, owner of platform X, over obligations to adhere to EU rules. 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". In response, Musk's site blocked the European body 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 heads the UK-based disinformation research group, was included in the sanctions. A senior US diplomat Sarah B Rogers alleged the GDI of using American public funds "to exhort suppression and targeting of US expression and media". A GDI spokesperson said the visa sanctions as "a repressive move on free speech and a blatant example of state-led suppression". "These measures today are unethical, illegal, and un-American," the spokesperson added. Imran Ahmed of the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), a nonprofit that fights online hate and false information, was also handed a ban. The undersecretary labeled Mr Ahmed a "key collaborator with efforts to weaponize the state apparatus against American people". Also subject to bans were two executives of a German organization, which the US officials said helped enforce the DSA. In a statement, the two CEOs described it as an "act of repression by a administration that is showing disregard for the legal principles". "We will not be intimidated by a state that uses accusations of censorship to muzzle those who stand up for fundamental freedoms," they concluded. Official Rationale The Secretary of State stated that action was initiated to impose visa restrictions on "representatives of the global censorship-industrial complex" who would be "generally barred from entering the United States". "The administration has been explicit that his America First diplomatic stance opposes infringements of US autonomy. Extraterritorial overreach by foreign censors targeting American speech is no exception," he added.