US Rejects Entry Permits to Ex-EU Commissioner and Additional Figures Over Online Platform Regulations
The US State Department announced it would refuse entry permits to a group of five people, including a ex-European Union official, for reportedly seeking to "force" US-based social media platforms into curtailing viewpoints they oppose.
"These individuals and weaponized NGOs have promoted censorship crackdowns by foreign states - in each case targeting American speakers and US firms," remarked US diplomat the official.
The former European tech regulator suggested that a "targeted campaign" was occurring.
Breton was described as the "key designer" of the European Union's online content law, which mandates content moderation on digital platforms.
A Contentious Law
Yet, it has angered some US conservatives who see it as an attempt to silence right-wing opinions. Brussels denies this.
Breton has clashed with Elon Musk, owner of platform X, over obligations to follow EU rules.
EU regulators imposed a penalty on 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 European body from running advertisements on its platform.
Responses and Additional Restrictions
Responding to the entry restriction, Breton posted on X: "To our American friends: Censorship does not lie where you think it is."
Clare Melford, who leads the UK-based Global Disinformation Index (GDI), was included in the sanctions.
A senior US diplomat the official alleged the GDI of using American public funds "to exhort censorship and targeting of American speech and press".
A representative for the group characterized the entry bans as "an authoritarian attack on free expression and a blatant example of state-led suppression".
"These measures today are unethical, unlawful, and contrary to American values," the spokesperson added.
Imran Ahmed of the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), a nonprofit that combats digital hatred and false information, was also handed a ban.
Rogers labeled Mr Ahmed a "key collaborator with efforts to weaponize the government against American people".
Also subject to bans were Anna-Lena von Hodenberg and Josephine Ballon of a German organization, which the US officials said aided in implementing the DSA.
Responding, the two CEOs called it an "attempt to silence by a government that is increasingly disregarding the legal principles".
"We will not be intimidated by a state that uses claims of suppression to silence those who defend fundamental freedoms," they added.
Policy Justification
The Secretary of State stated that action was initiated to impose entry bans on "representatives of the global censorship-industrial complex" who would be "typically prohibited from entering the United States".
"President Trump has been clear that his America First foreign policy rejects violations of US autonomy. Extraterritorial overreach by foreign censors targeting US expression is no exception," he affirmed.