The United States has said it will refuse visas to foreign officials who block Americans’ social media posts, as Donald Trump’s administration wages a new battle over free expression.
Marco Rubio – the secretary of state who has controversially rescinded visas for activists who criticize Israel and ramped up screening of foreign students’ social media – said on Wednesday he was acting against “flagrant censorship actions” overseas against US tech firms.
He did not publicly name any official who would be denied a visa under the new policy. But last week he suggested to lawmakers that he was planning sanctions against a Brazilian supreme court judge, Alexandre de Moraes, who has battled X owner and Trump ally Elon Musk over alleged disinformation.
The administration of Trump – himself a prolific and often confrontational social media user – has also sharply criticized Germany and Britain for restricting what the US allies’ governments term hate and abusive speech.
Rubio said the US will begin to restrict visas to foreign nationals who are responsible for “censorship of protected expression in the United States”.
“It is unacceptable for foreign officials to issue or threaten arrest warrants on US citizens or US residents for social media posts on American platforms while physically present on US soil,” Rubio said in a statement.
“It is similarly unacceptable for foreign officials to demand that American tech platforms adopt global content moderation policies or engage in censorship activity that reaches beyond their authority and into the United States,” he said.
“We will not tolerate encroachments upon American sovereignty, especially when such encroachments undermine the exercise of our fundamental right to free speech.”
Rubio has said he has revoked the US visas for thousands of people, largely students who have protested against Israel’s offensive in Gaza.
{snip}
The post US Will Refuse Visas to Foreign Officials Who Block Americans’ Social Media Posts appeared first on American Renaissance.
American Renaissance
