Two British campaigners are among five individuals who have been denied US visas. The US State Department stated that these individuals sought to “coerce” American tech platforms into suppressing free speech.
Imran Ahmed, head of the Centre for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) and a former Labour adviser, along with Clare Melford, CEO of the Global Disinformation Index (GDI), were identified as “radical activists” by the Trump administration and subsequently barred from entering the United States.
A former French EU commissioner and two senior members of a German anti-online hate organization also received visa denials.
European leaders have criticized these actions. The UK government affirmed its “full commitment” to upholding free speech.
A UK government spokesperson commented, “While every country has the right to set its own visa rules, the laws and institutions working to keep the internet free from the most harmful content are supported.”
French President Emmanuel Macron characterized the travel ban as “intimidation and coercion aimed at undermining European digital sovereignty.” Similarly, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas deemed it “unacceptable and an attempt to challenge sovereignty.”
The US presented these measures as a reaction to individuals and organizations advocating for restrictions on American tech companies. Secretary of State Marco Rubio described them as part of a “global censorship-industrial complex.”
Rubio stated, “President Trump has been clear that his America First foreign policy rejects violations of American sovereignty. Extraterritorial overreach by foreign censors targeting American speech is no exception.”
Ahmed, representing the CCDH, which advocates for government intervention against online hate speech and disinformation, has connections to prominent Labour figures. He previously served as an aide to Labour minister Hilary Benn, and Sir Keir Starmer’s chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, has been a director of the organization Ahmed established.
The US government labeled Ahmed a “collaborator” due to the CCDH’s alleged past collaboration with the Biden administration.
Melford established the GDI, a non-profit organization dedicated to monitoring the spread of disinformation, in 2018.
US Undersecretary of State Sarah B Rogers accused the GDI of utilizing US taxpayer funds “to exhort censorship and blacklisting of American speech and press.”
A GDI spokesperson stated that “the visa sanctions announced are an authoritarian attack on free speech and an egregious act of government censorship.”
The spokesperson added, “The Trump Administration is, once again, using the full weight of the federal government to intimidate, censor, and silence voices with which it disagrees. These actions are immoral, unlawful, and un-American.”
Thierry Breton, former top tech regulator at the European Commission, was also among those targeted, suggesting that a “witch hunt” was underway.
The State Department described Breton as the “mastermind” behind the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), a regulation that mandates content moderation for social media companies.
This act has, however, provoked anger among some US conservatives who perceive it as an attempt to censor right-wing opinions. Brussels refutes this claim.
Breton has previously clashed with Elon Musk, owner of X, regarding compliance with EU regulations.
The European Commission recently imposed a €120m (£105m) fine on X concerning its blue tick badges, marking the first fine under the DSA. The Commission stated that the platform’s blue tick system was “deceptive” as the company was not “meaningfully verifying users.”
In response, X blocked the Commission from sharing advertisements on its platform.
Following the visa ban, Breton posted on X: “To American friends: Censorship isn’t where you think it is.”
Anna-Lena von Hodenberg and Josephine Ballon of HateAid, a German organization that the State Department claimed assisted in enforcing the DSA, were also subjected to bans.
In a statement, the two CEOs described the action as “an act of repression by a government that is increasingly disregarding the rule of law and trying to silence its critics by any means necessary.”
They further stated, “Intimidation will not be accepted from a government that uses accusations of censorship to silence those who stand up for human rights and freedom of expression.”
