The US has banned the entry of a former EU commissioner and several disinformation activists

The administration of the US President Donald Trump on December 23 banned former European Union Commissioner Thierry Breton and several disinformation campaigners from entering the United States, accusing them of being involved in censorship of American social media platforms.

Reuters and Associated Press write about this.

The following were restricted:

• the former European Commissioner Thierry Breton;
• the CEO of the Center for Countering Digital Hate Imran Ahmed;
• the leaders of the German organization HateAid, Josephine Ballon and Anna-Lena von Hodenberg;
• the Global Disinformation Index co-founder Claire Melford.

The US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the five people “led an organized effort to force American platforms to censor, demonetize, and suppress American views with which they disagree”.

“These radical activists and instrumentalized NGOs have promoted repressive censorship campaigns by foreign powers — in each case targeting American speakers and American companies,” Rubio said.

Deputy Secretary of State Sarah Rogers, who announced the names of the people who were subject to restrictions, called Breton the "ideological mastermind" of the EU Digital Services Act, which establishes strict requirements designed to ensure the safety of Internet users online.

• In early December, the European Commission fined the social network X, owned by American businessman Elon Musk, €120 million for violating the law on content moderation. The EC concluded that the “blue tick” symbol on X, which verifies accounts, was misleading to users.
• After that, social network X blocked the European Commissionʼs advertising account.

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