The U.S. has imposed visa bans on five people — including former EU commissioner Thierry Breton and several anti-disinformation activists — accusing them of pressuring U.S. platforms to censor American speech. The action is part of Washington's pushback against the EU's Digital Services Act, which U.S. officials say overreaches and harms American tech firms. Targeted individuals and organizations denounced the bans as unlawful attempts to intimidate those enforcing European law and defending free expression.
U.S. Imposes Visa Bans on Former EU Commissioner and Anti-Disinformation Activists Over Alleged Censorship of American Speech
FILE PHOTO: European Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton looks in the amphitheatre of the Sorbonne University in Paris, France, 25 April 2024. Christophe Petit Tesson/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
WASHINGTON, Dec 23 — The U.S. government on Tuesday announced visa bans targeting a former European Union commissioner and several anti-disinformation activists, saying they played roles in efforts to pressure U.S. social media platforms to censor American viewpoints. The move is the latest escalation in a broader Washington campaign pushing back against the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA), which U.S. officials contend goes beyond legitimate regulation and imposes burdens on American tech companies.
Five People Targeted
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the five individuals "have led organized efforts to coerce American platforms to censor, demonetize, and suppress American viewpoints they oppose." He added that these were "radical activists and weaponized NGOs" advancing censorship in ways that target U.S. speakers and companies.
Rubio: "These radical activists and weaponized NGOs have advanced censorship crackdowns by foreign states - in each case targeting American speakers and American companies."
Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy Sarah Rogers later identified the people on X (formerly Twitter). The most high-profile name was Thierry Breton, the French former European Commissioner for the Internal Market (2019–2024), whom Rogers described as "a mastermind" behind the DSA and accused of threatening X owner Elon Musk ahead of an interview with former President Trump. Reuters was not immediately able to reach Breton for comment.
Other Individuals Named
The U.S. also named Imran Ahmed, chief executive of the U.S.-based Center for Countering Digital Hate (a British national), Anna-Lena von Hodenberg and Josephine Ballon of the German nonprofit HateAid, and Clare Melford, co-founder of the Global Disinformation Index (GDI).
Reactions And Context
Von Hodenberg and Ballon called the bans an attempt to obstruct enforcement of European law against U.S. companies operating in Europe and said they would not be intimidated. A GDI spokesperson described the U.S. action as "immoral, unlawful, and un-American" and labeled it "an authoritarian attack on free speech."
Rogers accused Melford of mislabeling online comments as hate speech or disinformation and of using U.S. taxpayer funds to encourage censorship and blacklisting of American speech and press. Melford has said she co-founded GDI to "break the business model of harmful online content" by reviewing news sites so advertisers can decide whether to fund polarizing or low-quality content.
The visa measures follow language in this month's U.S. National Security Strategy, which criticized some European leaders for censoring speech and suppressing dissent on immigration policies — language that U.S. officials say reflects broader concerns about European regulatory approaches to online content.
Reuters reported in August that U.S. officials had considered sanctions on people involved in implementing the DSA. The visa bans underline rising tensions between Washington and Brussels over how to regulate online speech, misinformation and the role of private platforms.
Reporting: Simon Lewis and David Brunnstrom. Editing: Rod Nickel.
