US to ban visas for overseas officers who censor Americans on-line

The U.S. will impose visa bans on overseas nationals it deems to be censoring Americans, Secretary of State Marco Rubio mentioned on Wednesday, and he instructed the brand new coverage might goal officers regulating U.S. tech corporations.

Rubio didn’t title any particular situations of censorship. But U.S. tech corporations and the Trump administration have challenged U.S. allies in Europe, alleging censorship of social media platforms, however proscribing officers from visiting the U.S. gave the impression to be an escalation by Washington.

Rubio mentioned in an announcement {that a} new visa restriction coverage would apply to overseas nationals chargeable for censorship of protected expression within the U.S. He mentioned it was unacceptable for overseas officers to concern or threaten arrest warrants for social media posts made on U.S. soil.

“It is equally unacceptable for overseas officers to demand that American tech platforms undertake world content material moderation insurance policies or have interaction in censorship exercise that reaches past their authority and into the United States,” Rubio mentioned.

Some overseas officers have taken “flagrant censorship actions towards U.S. tech corporations and U.S. residents and residents after they don’t have any authority to take action,” Rubio mentioned.

U.S. social media corporations like Facebook and Instagram mother or father Meta META.O have mentioned an EU content material moderation regulation, the Digital Services Act, quantities to censorship of their platforms. The Trump-appointed chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission in March warned the EU Digital Services Act excessively restricts freedom of expression.

EU officers have defended the regulation, which is supposed to make the net setting safer and fairer by compelling tech giants to do extra to sort out unlawful content material together with hate speech and little one sexual abuse materials.

‘SHARED VALUES’

In a social media publish on Wednesday, Rubio added, “Whether in Latin America, Europe, or elsewhere, the times of passive therapy for individuals who work to undermine the rights of Americans are over.”

Rubio didn’t title particular nations or people that may be focused. Brazil has clashed with the platform X, owned by Trump ally Elon Musk, over compliance with orders to take down accounts accused of spreading misinformation. The Trump administration has repeatedly referred to as out European nations for supposed censorship of on-line content material.

Vice President JD Vance denounced content material moderation whereas in Paris in February, calling it “authoritarian censorship.”

In April, Rubio shut down a State Department workplace that had sought to counter overseas disinformation, accusing it of censorship and losing U.S. taxpayer cash.

Announcing that transfer, he mentioned freedom of expression was very important to U.S. ties with Western European nations, and warned that those that threaten free speech “are attacking one of many pillars of our shared curiosity, our shared tradition, our shared values.”

Free speech points can be raised in diplomacy with the EU and had been raised individually with Britain’s prime minister, Rubio added.