Rubio Bans Five European Officials, NGOs Over Censoring Americans

The State Department announced it has barred five high-profile European officials and activists from entering the United States, accusing them of orchestrating coordinated campaigns to pressure American technology companies into censoring the speech of U.S. citizens.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the action represents the first enforcement under a new visa policy unveiled in May, aimed at blocking foreign nationals who “directly advance or facilitate censorship of protected speech within the United States.”

“For far too long, ideologues in Europe have led organized efforts to coerce American platforms to punish American viewpoints they oppose,” Rubio said in a post on X. “The Trump Administration will no longer tolerate these egregious acts of extraterritorial censorship.”

The individuals named in the visa ban include Imran Ahmed, CEO of the UK-based Centre for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH); Josephine Ballon and Anna-Lena von Hodenberg, co-CEOs of Germany’s HateAid; Clare Melford, executive director of the Global Disinformation Index (GDI); and Thierry Breton, the former European Union commissioner responsible for overseeing implementation of the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA).

Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy Sarah Rogers identified the five in a statement Tuesday, accusing them of advancing “foreign government censorship campaigns against American citizens and U.S. companies.”

“These foreign operatives have sought to manipulate global tech platforms into suppressing American speech — including political speech — under the guise of combating ‘hate’ or ‘disinformation,’” Rogers wrote.

Rogers described Breton, a French business executive and former finance minister, as the “mastermind” behind the Digital Services Act, a sweeping EU law that forces major online platforms to monitor and remove content deemed harmful or illegal under European standards. According to U.S. officials, that framework has been “weaponized” to pressure American companies such as X and Meta to suppress political dissent and conservative viewpoints.

Breton emerged as a central figure in transatlantic tensions over online speech last year after warning Elon Musk that X could face penalties under the DSA for broadcasting a live interview with Donald J. Trump during his 2024 presidential campaign.

In response to the ban, Breton defended the law and criticized Washington’s move. “To our American friends: ‘Censorship isn’t where you think it is,’” he wrote on X. He noted that all 27 EU member states adopted the DSA in 2022, arguing it was intended “to ensure that what is illegal offline is also illegal online.”

France quickly condemned the decision. Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot called the visa restrictions “an unacceptable act of political retaliation,” adding that France “strongly condemns this decision” and insisting the DSA “has absolutely no extraterritorial reach and in no way concerns the United States.”

Ballon and von Hodenberg of HateAid issued a joint statement accusing the Trump administration of “repression” and claiming the ban was designed to “silence critics by any means necessary.”

Both the Global Disinformation Index and the Centre for Countering Digital Hate have previously drawn scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers over their cooperation with American tech companies and advertisers to flag or demonetize conservative-leaning media outlets. In 2023, the House Judiciary Committee opened an investigation into the groups over allegations they colluded with federal agencies to suppress lawful online content.

State Department officials said the visa bans were issued under Section 212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which authorizes the president to deny entry to foreign nationals whose presence could have “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences” for the United States.

The move marks the latest escalation in President Trump’s broader effort to confront foreign interference in American speech and to separate U.S. free expression from what administration officials describe as “foreign information control regimes.”

“This administration will use every lawful tool to protect Americans’ constitutional rights,” Rubio said. “Foreign activists who target U.S. citizens’ speech at the direction of their governments or through proxy groups will no longer be welcome in our country.”

The European Union issued a formal protest late Tuesday, warning that the visa restrictions could prompt reciprocal measures.