US Rejects Entry Permits to Ex-EU Commissioner and Additional Figures Concerning Online Platform Regulations
American diplomatic officials declared it would refuse entry permits to five individuals, including a ex-European Union official, for reportedly seeking to "coerce" US-based online companies into silencing opinions they oppose.
"These individuals and weaponized NGOs have promoted censorship crackdowns by other governments - in each case focusing on American speakers and US firms," stated Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The former European tech regulator remarked that a "targeted campaign" was underway.
Breton was described as the "key designer" of the European Union's online content law, which enforces speech regulations on digital platforms.
A Divisive Regulation
Yet, it has angered certain right-leaning Americans who see it as seeking to censor conservative viewpoints. EU authorities rejects this characterization.
The official has been in conflict with the billionaire entrepreneur, the world's richest man, over requirements to follow EU rules.
The European Commission recently fined X €120m over its verification system – the inaugural penalty under the DSA. It said the platform's system was "deceptive" because the firm was not "properly authenticating users".
In response, the platform prevented the Commission from running advertisements on its platform.
Responses and Additional Restrictions
Responding to the visa ban, Breton posted on X: "Addressing the US: Censorship does not lie where you think it is."
Another listed individual, who heads the UK-based Global Disinformation Index (GDI), was also listed.
US Undersecretary of State Sarah B Rogers accused the GDI of using American public funds "to exhort suppression and targeting of US expression and press".
A representative for the group characterized the entry bans as "an authoritarian attack on free expression and an egregious act of government censorship".
"These measures today are immoral, unlawful, and un-American," the spokesperson added.
Another figure of the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), a nonprofit that combats online hate and false information, was similarly issued a ban.
The undersecretary called Mr Ahmed a "key collaborator with campaigns to weaponize the state apparatus against American people".
Also subject to bans were Anna-Lena von Hodenberg and Josephine Ballon of a German organization, which the US officials said helped enforce the DSA.
Responding, the two CEOs called it an "attempt to silence by a administration that is showing disregard for the legal principles".
"We refuse to be silenced by a government that uses claims of suppression to silence those who defend fundamental freedoms," they added.
Official Rationale
Rubio said that action was initiated to enact visa restrictions on "representatives of the international suppression network" who would be "generally barred from entering the United States".
"The administration has been explicit that his America First diplomatic stance rejects infringements of US autonomy. Extraterritorial overreach by foreign censors targeting US expression is no exception," he affirmed.
