US Rejects Entry Permits to Ex-EU Commissioner and Additional Figures Over Social Media Policies

The US State Department announced it would refuse entry permits to a group of five people, among them a former EU commissioner, for reportedly seeking to "pressure" US-based online companies into curtailing opinions they disagree with.

"These individuals and weaponized NGOs have advanced suppression campaigns by foreign states - in each case focusing on American speakers and American companies," said Secretary of State the official.

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

Breton was described as the "mastermind" of the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA), which imposes content moderation on social media firms.

A Divisive Regulation

Yet, the act has frustrated certain right-leaning Americans who see it as an attempt to silence right-wing opinions. EU authorities rejects this characterization.

Breton has clashed with the billionaire entrepreneur, owner of platform X, over requirements to follow EU rules.

The European Commission recently fined X 120 million euros over its blue tick badges – the first fine under the DSA. It said the platform's system was "misleading" because the firm was not "properly authenticating users".

As a countermove, Musk's site prevented the Commission from making adverts on its platform.

Reactions and Broader Bans

Reacting to the visa ban, the former commissioner wrote on X: "Addressing the US: Censorship does not lie 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 American public funds "to exhort suppression and blacklisting of US expression and press".

A representative for the group said the entry bans as "an authoritarian attack on free expression and an egregious act of state-led suppression".

"These measures today are unethical, illegal, and contrary to American values," the spokesperson added.

Imran Ahmed of the an online hate watchdog, a nonprofit that fights digital hatred and misinformation, was also handed a ban.

Rogers called Mr Ahmed a "key collaborator with efforts to weaponize the government against American people".

Also subject to bans were two executives of a German organization, which the State Department said helped enforce the DSA.

In a statement, the two leaders called it an "act of repression by a government that is showing disregard for the rule of law".

"We will not be intimidated by a government that uses accusations of censorship to silence those who stand up for human rights," they concluded.

Policy Justification

The Secretary of State stated that steps had been taken to impose entry bans on "representatives of the international suppression network" who would be "typically prohibited from entering the United States".

"President Trump has been clear that his national sovereignty diplomatic stance rejects violations of American sovereignty. Extraterritorial overreach by overseas regulators aimed at American speech is no exception," he added.