ISTANBUL
The US has imposed visa restrictions on five individuals accused of leading organized efforts to coerce platforms into censoring "American viewpoints," Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Tuesday.
"The State Department is taking decisive action against five individuals who have led organized efforts to coerce American platforms to censor, demonetize and suppress American viewpoints they oppose," Rubio said in a statement.
Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy Sarah B. Rogers said in posts on the US social media company X’s platform that the sanctions “reinforce the red line” against extraterritorial censorship of Americans and target the so-called “censorship-NGO ecosystem.”
Rogers said the individuals targeted include Thierry Breton, a former European commissioner involved in the Digital Services Act (DSA), who is accused of threatening X owner Elon Musk over compliance with the law; Imran Ahmed, CEO and founder of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, cited for collaborating with the Biden administration to "weaponize the government against US citizens," including prominent anti-vaccine figures; Clare Melford, head of the Global Disinformation Index, accused of using US taxpayer money to “exhort censorship and blacklisting of American speech and press,” and two executives of the German NGO HateAid, Anna-Lena von Hodenberg and Josephine Ballon, targeted for their roles as “trusted flaggers” under the DSA.
Rubio said he determined that their entry, presence or activities in the US "have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences" for the country.
"Based on these determinations, the department has taken steps to impose visa restrictions on agents of the global censorship-industrial complex who, as a result, will be generally barred from entering the United States," he said.
In addition, the Department of Homeland Security may initiate removal proceedings against certain individuals, making them deportable, Rubio added.
"(US) President (Donald) Trump has been clear that his America First foreign policy rejects violations of American sovereignty. Extraterritorial overreach by foreign censors targeting American speech is no exception," he said, adding his agency is ready to "expand today's list if other foreign actors do not reverse course."