State Department Bans Five Europeans Who Helped Censor Americans From Entering Country
The State Department has banned five prominent European figures involved in what officials are calling the “global censorship-industrial complex,” denying them entry to the United States in a major escalation against foreign influence on American free speech.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the sanctions Tuesday, saying the move is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to push back against European pressure on U.S.-based tech platforms and to defend the First Amendment.
“For far too long, ideologues in Europe have led organized efforts to coerce American platforms to punish American viewpoints they oppose. The Trump Administration will no longer tolerate these egregious acts of extraterritorial censorship,” Rubio said. “We stand ready and willing to expand this list if others do not reverse course.”
The travel bans were placed on European Union Commissioner Thierry Breton of France, Center for Countering Digital Hate CEO Imran Ahmed of the U.K., Global Disinformation Index executive Clare Melford, and German HateAid leaders Josephine Ballon and Anna-Lena von Hodenberg. The individuals are barred from entering the United States, although no financial penalties were imposed.
Breton was a key architect of the European Commission’s Digital Services Act, a sweeping regulation that forces online platforms to combat what the EU deems “illegal content” and misinformation. That law was recently used to fine Elon Musk’s social platform X, a move sharply criticized by the Trump administration.
Ahmed’s Center for Countering Digital Hate gained notoriety during the COVID pandemic when it was cited by the Biden White House in targeting what it called a “disinformation dozen” on Facebook—twelve accounts allegedly responsible for the majority of vaccine-related dissent. One of those accounts belonged to now–Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Clare Melford’s Global Disinformation Index previously received support through a Biden-era program aimed at curbing “misinformation.” Before being shut down by Rubio earlier this year, the group labeled conservative publications like The Daily Wire, New York Post, and Reason Magazine as “risky” to advertisers. The Daily Wire has an ongoing lawsuit against the State Department for allegedly targeting right-leaning media during the Biden presidency.
Ballon and Hodenberg’s HateAid, a group based in Germany, is considered a “trusted” censorship partner under the EU’s Digital Services Act. The organization has frequently called for curbing what it defines as hate speech from Right-wing sources. In a recent “60 Minutes” interview, Ballon stated, “Free speech needs boundaries… Without boundaries, a very small group of people can rely on endless freedom to say anything that they want, while everyone else is scared and intimidated.”
The Biden-era partnership with these European organizations is now under fire as Trump and Rubio push back on transatlantic efforts to regulate online speech in the U.S. and abroad.
French President Emmanuel Macron lashed out at the decision, calling it “intimidation and coercion aimed at undermining European digital sovereignty.”
Trump responded with a warning to Brussels after the recent fine against X, stating, “Europe has to be very careful. They’re doing a lot of things… Europe is going in some bad directions. It’s very bad for the people.”
Rubio also warned about a possible future where Americans are arrested abroad over their online posts. “Are we going to live in a world where some American puts up a social media post and then gets to some airport somewhere and is arrested? We’re also concerned about the impact that some of their policies are having on our social media platforms,” he said.