US Rejects Entry Permits to Ex-EU Commissioner and Additional Figures Regarding Online Platform Policies
The US State Department stated it would deny visas to a group of five people, among them a former EU commissioner, for allegedly seeking to "force" US-based social media platforms into suppressing viewpoints they oppose.
"These individuals and aggressive non-profits have advanced suppression campaigns by foreign states - in each case targeting US voices and American companies," remarked US diplomat the official.
Thierry Breton suggested that a "witch hunt" was taking place.
Breton was described as the "mastermind" of the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA), which mandates speech regulations on digital platforms.
A Contentious Law
However, the act has frustrated some US conservatives who view it as an attempt to silence conservative viewpoints. Brussels rejects this characterization.
The official has been in conflict with Elon Musk, the world's richest man, over obligations to follow 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".
In response, Musk's site prevented the Commission from making adverts on its platform.
Reactions and Broader Bans
Reacting to the entry restriction, the former commissioner wrote on X: "To our American friends: Speech suppression does not lie where you think it is."
Clare Melford, who heads the UK-based disinformation research group, was also listed.
US Undersecretary of State Sarah B Rogers alleged the GDI of using American public funds "to encourage suppression and blacklisting of US expression and media".
A GDI spokesperson said the entry bans as "an authoritarian attack on free expression and an egregious act of government censorship".
"These measures today are unethical, illegal, and contrary to American values," 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 called Mr Ahmed a "primary partner with efforts to weaponize the government against American people".
Additionally facing restrictions were Anna-Lena von Hodenberg and Josephine Ballon of HateAid, which the State Department said helped enforce the DSA.
Responding, the two CEOs described it as an "act of repression by a government that is showing disregard for the legal principles".
"We refuse to be silenced by a state that uses accusations of censorship to muzzle those who defend fundamental freedoms," they concluded.
Official Rationale
The Secretary of State stated that action was initiated to enact visa restrictions on "representatives of the global censorship-industrial complex" who would be "generally barred from entering the United States".
"The administration has been clear that his national sovereignty foreign policy rejects violations of American sovereignty. Foreign-imposed regulations by overseas regulators aimed at American speech is unacceptable," he affirmed.
