- State
Department bars five Europeans Tuesday. - Accused
of pressuring U.S. tech firms. - Efforts
to censor American viewpoints.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the Europeans as
“weaponized” nonprofit organizations and “radical”
activists. They were targeted under a new visa policy that was introduced in
May to limit the immigration of foreigners who were thought to be in charge of
censoring protected speech in the United States.
“For far too long, ideologues in Europe have led
organized efforts to coerce American platforms to punish American viewpoints
they oppose,”
Rubio posted on X.
“The Trump Administration will no
longer tolerate these egregious acts of extraterritorial censorship.”
In a series of social media posts, Sarah Rogers, the under
secretary of state for public diplomacy, identified the five Europeans. They
include a former European Union commissioner who clashed with tech tycoon Elon
Musk over airing an online interview with Donald Trump, as well as leaders of
organizations that combat online abuse.
According to Rubio’s remarks, they promoted censorship
campaigns by foreign governments against Americans and American businesses,
which he claimed had
“potentially serious adverse foreign policy
consequences”
for the United States.
The Trump administration’s effort against foreign influence
over internet discourse, which uses immigration law rather than platform
restrictions or fines, includes the action to prohibit them from entering the
US.
Rogers listed
five Europeans: Josephine Ballon and Anna-Lena von Hodenberg, leaders of the
German group HateAid; Imran Ahmed, CEO of the Centre for Countering Digital
Hate; The Global Disinformation Index’s director, Clare Melford; and former EU
Commissioner Thierry Breton, who oversaw social media regulations
In her article on X, Rogers referred to Breton, a French
business magnate and former finance minister, as the “mastermind” of
the EU’s Digital Services Act, which enforces stringent regulations intended to
protect internet users.
She mentioned Breton alerting Musk to the potential
“amplification of harmful content” by airing his livestream interview
with Trump during his presidential campaign in August 2024.
In response, Breton stated on X on Tuesday that the Digital
Services Act was approved by all 27 EU nations in 2022.
“To our American
friends: ‘Censorship isn’t where you think it is,’”
he wrote.
France denounces the visa restrictions on Breton and the
four others, according to French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot. He said on
X that the DSA was implemented to guarantee that “what is illegal offline
is also illegal online.”
The co-CEOs of HateAid, Ballon and von Hodenberg, described
it as
“an act of repression by a government that is increasingly
disregarding the rule of law and trying to silence its critics by any means
necessary”
in a statement.
The majority of Europeans are not required to have a visa in
order to enter the nation because they are covered by the Visa Waiver Program.
However, under a system administered by the Department of Homeland Security,
they must complete an online application before arriving, so it is possible
that at least some of these five individuals have been reported to DHS,
according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss
information not made public.
This year, limitations on foreign visitors from several
Middle Eastern and African nations as well as the Palestinian Authority were
announced, coupled with further policies restricting visas. When applying for a
visa, visitors from certain nations may be asked to post a financial bond.
What specific actions led to their visa bans?
The U.S. State Department barred five Europeans on December
23, 2025, citing their leadership in systematized efforts to force U.S. tech
platforms into censoring, demonetizing, or suppressing American shoes opposed
by foreign governments.
Manipulated the Digital Services Act( DSA), hanging X
proprietor Elon Musk over compliance and obliging platforms for content
temperance on hate speech and intimation. Banded with the Biden administration
to target” Disinformation Dozen” figures like RFK Jr., weaponizing
the government against U.S. citizens via platform deplatforming.
Secretary Marco Rubio invoked visa restrictions under
immigration law for” potentially serious adverse foreign policy
consequences,” targeting the” suppression NGO ecosystem” without
felonious charges.
