2025-12-24 13:04:52
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has accused “radical activists and weaponized NGOs” of trying to censor American companies.
The US State Department has announced plans to deny visas to five people, including a former EU commissioner, amid claims that they have made a concerted effort to censor viewpoints they oppose.
Rubio said in a statement: “These radical activists and weaponized NGOs have advanced censorship crackdowns by foreign states – in each case targeting American speakers and American companies.”
However, Thierry Breton, the former top tech regulator at the European Commission, has already hit out at the US’ decision.
He wrote on X: “To our American friends: Censorship isn’t where you think it is.”
Clare Melford, who leads the UK-based Global Disinformation Index (GDI), has also been denied a visa to enter the US.
The decision has prompted criticism from the GDI.
Speaking to the BBC, a spokesperson for the organisation explained that “the visa sanctions announced today are an authoritarian attack on free speech and an egregious act of government censorship”.
The spokesperson added: “The Trump Administration is, once again, using the full weight of the federal government to intimidate, censor, and silence voices they disagree with. Their actions today are immoral, unlawful, and un-American.”
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