US Denies Visas to Ex-EU Commissioner and Additional Figures Regarding Online Platform Rules

American diplomatic officials announced it would refuse entry permits to five individuals, among them a ex-European Union official, for allegedly seeking to "pressure" American social media platforms into silencing opinions they disagree with.

"These individuals and weaponized NGOs have advanced censorship crackdowns by other governments - in each case focusing on American speakers and American companies," said US diplomat the official.

The former European tech regulator remarked that a "witch hunt" was underway.

Breton was described as the "architect" of the European Union's online content law, which imposes speech regulations on digital platforms.

A Contentious Law

However, it has angered some US conservatives who view it as an attempt to silence conservative viewpoints. Brussels denies this.

The official has been in conflict with Elon Musk, the world's richest man, over requirements to follow European regulations.

EU regulators imposed a penalty on X €120m over its verification system – the inaugural penalty under the DSA. It said the platform's system was "misleading" because the firm was not "meaningfully verifying users".

As a countermove, the platform prevented the European body 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.

A senior US diplomat Sarah B Rogers alleged the GDI of using American public funds "to exhort suppression and targeting of American speech and media".

A GDI spokesperson characterized the entry bans as "a repressive move on free speech and an egregious act of government censorship".

"These measures today are immoral, unlawful, and un-American," 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.

The undersecretary labeled Mr Ahmed a "key collaborator with campaigns to weaponize the state apparatus against US citizens".

Additionally facing restrictions were Anna-Lena von Hodenberg and Josephine Ballon of HateAid, which the State Department said aided in implementing 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 state that uses claims of suppression to muzzle those who defend fundamental freedoms," they added.

Official Rationale

The Secretary of State stated that action was initiated to enact entry bans on "agents of the international suppression network" who would be "generally barred from entering the United States".

"The administration has been clear that his America First diplomatic stance opposes violations of US autonomy. Extraterritorial overreach by overseas regulators targeting American speech is unacceptable," he added.