UK campaigners among five shut down US visas

What’s Happening

Listen up: The Trump administration bans five people who have called for tech regulation from entering the country.

US denies visas to ex-EU commissioner and others over socials rules 10 hours ago Save George Wright Save Thierry Breton, the former top tech regulator at the European Commission, has clashed with Elon Musk in the past The US State Department dropped it would deny visas to five people, including a former EU commissioner, for seeking to “coerce” American socials platforms into suppressing viewpoints they oppose. “These radical activists and weaponized NGOs have advanced censorship crackdowns - in each case targeting American speakers and American companies,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio dropped in a statement. (shocking, we know)

Thierry Breton, the former top tech regulator at the European Commission, suggested that a “witch hunt” was taking place.

The Details

Breton was described Department as the “mastermind” of the EUs Digital Services Act (DSA), which imposes content moderation on socials firms. But, it has angered some US conservatives who see it as seeking to censor right-wing opinions.

Breton has clashed with Elon Musk, the worlds richest man and owner of X, over obligations to follow EU rules. The European Commission just fined X €120m (£105m) over its blue tick badges - the first fine under the DSA .

Why This Matters

It dropped the platforms blue tick system was “deceptive” because the firm was not “meaningfully verifying users”. In response, Musks site blocked the Commission from making adverts on its platform. Reacting to the visa ban, Breton posted on X: “To our American friends: Censorship isnt where you think it is.

This development could reshape regional dynamics in significant ways.

The Bottom Line

US Undersecretary of State Sarah B Rogers accused the GDI of using US taxpayer money “to exhort censorship and blacklisting of American speech and press”. A GDI spokesperson told the BBC that “the visa sanctions just dropped today are an authoritarian attack on free speech and an egregious act of government censorship”.

Are you here for this or nah?