Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during a news conference at the State Department in Washington. (AP Photo) The US State Department on Tuesday denied visas to a former top European Union official, two British social media campaigners among five people and imposed sanctions after accusing them of seeking to “coerce” US tech platforms for alleged “censorship” as the Trump administration ratchets up its fight against European regulations that have impacted digital platforms.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in a statement on Tuesday, accused the five sanctioned people of leading “organized efforts to coerce American platforms to censor, demonetize, and suppress American viewpoints they oppose.”
Trump administration officials have in the past accused European nations for alleged censorship, and one of the reports by the State Department human rights alleged “significant human rights issues” with countries like the United Kingdom, France, and Germany over “serious restrictions on freedom of expression,” CNN reported.
Is McCarthy’s witch hunt back? 🧹
As a reminder: 90% of the European Parliament — our democratically elected body — and all 27 Member States unanimously voted the DSA 🇪🇺
To our American friends: “Censorship isn’t where you think it is.”
— Thierry Breton (@ThierryBreton) December 23, 2025
Among those whose visas have been sanctioned by the US includes Thierry Breton, a former French European Union commissioner, Imran Ahmed, an ex-Labour adviser and Clare Melford, CEO of the Global Disinformation Index. The five people whose visas have been denied were labelled by the State Department as “radical activists” and they have been banned from entering the United States.
In a post on X, Breton retorted at America for denying him the visa and wrote, “Is McCarthy’s witch hunt back? As a reminder: 90% of the European Parliament — our democratically elected body and all 27 Member States unanimously voted for the DSA. To our American friends: “Censorship isn’t where you think it is.”
The European Commission criticised the move of travel restrictions on Breton and four other European individuals and said that they have requested for a clarification from the US authorities. A spokesperson for the European Commission said, “it “strongly condemns the US decision. Freedom of expression is a fundamental right in Europe and a shared core value with the United States across the democratic world,” Reuters reported.
(with inputs from Reuters)
