Five individuals, including two British activists, were refused US visas after the State Department claimed they were attempting to “coerce” US tech companies into stifling free expression.
Clare Melford, CEO of the Global Disinformation Index (GDI), and Imran Ahmed, a former Labour consultant who now leads the Centre for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), were designated “radical activists” by the Trump administration and prohibited from entering the United States.
Two high-ranking members of an anti-online hate group based in Germany and a French former EU commissioner were also refused visas. The UK government declared that it is “fully committed” to protecting free expression, but French President Emmanuel Macron referred to it as “intimidation.
A UK government official stated, “We support the laws and institutions that are working to keep the internet free from the most harmful content, even though every country has the right to set its own visa rules.
The US actions, according to Macron, “amount to intimidation and coercion aimed at undermining European digital sovereignty”. The EU said it had contacted the US for clarification and “strongly condemned” the visa suspension. The action was characterized as “unacceptable measures between partners and allies” by Spain’s foreign minister.
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