The United States took the rare step Tuesday of imposing visa sanctions on European allies, barring a former EU commissioner and four anti-disinformation leaders from entering the country over accusations they pressured American technology companies to censor conservative viewpoints.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the sanctions against five individuals, accusing them of pressuring American technology companies to restrict political speech. The move bars the sanctioned individuals from entering the United States.
Thierry Breton, a former European commissioner who helped develop the EU’s Digital Services Act, leads the list of those sanctioned. The law requires major technology platforms to remove illegal and harmful content.
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The sanctions also target Imran Ahmed, who heads the Center for Countering Digital Hate, and Clare Melford, chief executive of the Global Disinformation Index. Two leaders from Germany’s HateAid organization, Anna-Lena von Hodenberg and Josephine Ballon, round out the list.
Rubio stated that the sanctioned individuals led “organized efforts to coerce American platforms to censor, demonetize, and suppress American viewpoints they oppose.” He added that officials “stand ready and willing to expand this list if other foreign actors do not reverse course.”
Breton responded on X, asking, “Is McCarthy’s witch hunt back?” He referenced Senator Joseph McCarthy’s 1950s investigations of alleged communists in government.
The Global Disinformation Index called the sanctions “an authoritarian attack on free speech and an egregious act of government censorship” in a statement. Von Hodenberg and Ballon said the action represented “a new escalation” and questioned European sovereignty.
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