🔗 Share this article The United States Denies Entry Permits to Ex-EU Commissioner and Additional Figures Concerning Social Media Rules Thierry Breton, who has been in conflict with the owner of platform X. The US State Department announced it would refuse entry permits to five individuals, among them a ex-European Union official, for reportedly seeking to "coerce" US-based social media platforms into curtailing viewpoints they disagree with. "These radical activists and weaponized NGOs have advanced censorship crackdowns by other governments - in each case focusing on American speakers and American companies," remarked US diplomat Marco Rubio. The former European tech regulator implied that a "witch hunt" was taking place. Officials labeled Breton as the "mastermind" of the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA), which imposes speech regulations on digital platforms. A Divisive Regulation However, the act has frustrated certain right-leaning Americans who view it as seeking to censor conservative viewpoints. Brussels rejects this characterization. Breton has clashed with Elon Musk, owner of platform X, over obligations to follow European regulations. The European Commission imposed a penalty on X 120 million euros over its blue tick badges – 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 blocked the European body from running advertisements on its platform. Reactions and Broader Bans Reacting to the entry restriction, the former commissioner wrote on X: "To our American friends: Censorship isn't where you think it is." Another listed individual, who heads the British Global Disinformation Index (GDI), was included in the sanctions. US Undersecretary of State Sarah B Rogers accused the GDI of using US taxpayer money "to encourage censorship and targeting of American speech and media". A GDI spokesperson said the entry bans as "an authoritarian attack on free expression and an egregious act of state-led suppression". "These measures today are unethical, unlawful, and contrary to American values," the spokesperson added. Another figure of the an online hate watchdog, a non-governmental organization that fights online hate and misinformation, was also handed a ban. Rogers called Mr Ahmed a "key collaborator with campaigns to weaponize the state apparatus against US citizens". Also subject to bans were two executives of HateAid, which the US officials said helped enforce the DSA. Responding, the two CEOs called it an "act of repression by a government 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 steps had been taken to impose entry bans on "representatives of the international suppression network" who would be "generally barred from entering the United States". "The administration has been explicit that his national sovereignty diplomatic stance opposes infringements of US autonomy. Extraterritorial overreach by foreign censors targeting US expression is no exception," he added.
Thierry Breton, who has been in conflict with the owner of platform X. The US State Department announced it would refuse entry permits to five individuals, among them a ex-European Union official, for reportedly seeking to "coerce" US-based social media platforms into curtailing viewpoints they disagree with. "These radical activists and weaponized NGOs have advanced censorship crackdowns by other governments - in each case focusing on American speakers and American companies," remarked US diplomat Marco Rubio. The former European tech regulator implied that a "witch hunt" was taking place. Officials labeled Breton as the "mastermind" of the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA), which imposes speech regulations on digital platforms. A Divisive Regulation However, the act has frustrated certain right-leaning Americans who view it as seeking to censor conservative viewpoints. Brussels rejects this characterization. Breton has clashed with Elon Musk, owner of platform X, over obligations to follow European regulations. The European Commission imposed a penalty on X 120 million euros over its blue tick badges – 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 blocked the European body from running advertisements on its platform. Reactions and Broader Bans Reacting to the entry restriction, the former commissioner wrote on X: "To our American friends: Censorship isn't where you think it is." Another listed individual, who heads the British Global Disinformation Index (GDI), was included in the sanctions. US Undersecretary of State Sarah B Rogers accused the GDI of using US taxpayer money "to encourage censorship and targeting of American speech and media". A GDI spokesperson said the entry bans as "an authoritarian attack on free expression and an egregious act of state-led suppression". "These measures today are unethical, unlawful, and contrary to American values," the spokesperson added. Another figure of the an online hate watchdog, a non-governmental organization that fights online hate and misinformation, was also handed a ban. Rogers called Mr Ahmed a "key collaborator with campaigns to weaponize the state apparatus against US citizens". Also subject to bans were two executives of HateAid, which the US officials said helped enforce the DSA. Responding, the two CEOs called it an "act of repression by a government 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 steps had been taken to impose entry bans on "representatives of the international suppression network" who would be "generally barred from entering the United States". "The administration has been explicit that his national sovereignty diplomatic stance opposes infringements of US autonomy. Extraterritorial overreach by foreign censors targeting US expression is no exception," he added.