US will impose visa ban on foreign officials over ‘flagrant censorship’ of Americans on social media

The US will impose visa bans on foreign nationals involved in censoring Americans, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Wednesday. He indicated that the new policy might target officials regulating US technology companies.

Rubio did not specify any particular cases of censorship. However, US tech firms and the Trump administration have challenged European allies over alleged censorship of social media platforms. The move to restrict officials from entering the US marks an escalation by Washington.

In a statement, Rubio said the visa restriction policy would apply to foreign nationals responsible for censoring protected expression in the United States. He called it unacceptable for foreign officials to issue or threaten arrest warrants for social media posts made on US soil.

Rubio added that it was equally unacceptable for foreign officials to demand that American tech platforms adopt global content moderation policies or engage in censorship beyond their authority in the US.

He accused some foreign officials of taking "flagrant censorship actions against US tech companies and US citizens and residents when they have no authority to do so." US social media companies such as Meta, the parent of Facebook and Instagram, have criticised the European Union's Digital Services Act, calling it censorship of their platforms. 

Chairman of the US Federal Communications Commission warned in March that the act excessively restricts freedom of expression. In January, Meta ended its US fact-checking programme in favour of community notes on controversial posts but continued fact-checking in Europe and Latin America.

EU regulators have issued preliminary findings that X, the platform owned by Elon Musk, breached the bloc's content moderation rules. The EU defended the Digital Services Act as a measure to make the online environment safer and fairer by requiring tech companies to tackle illegal content, including hate speech and child sexual abuse material.

Trump officials have criticised European politics for suppressing right-wing views in countries like Romania, Germany, and France, accusing authorities of censoring criticism of immigration under the pretext of countering disinformation.

In April, Rubio closed a State Department office aimed at countering foreign disinformation, accusing it of censorship and wasting taxpayer money. On social media, Rubio stated that the days of passive treatment for those undermining American rights are over, without naming specific countries or individuals.