Trump administration bans five people from the United States for online content moderation


On Tuesday, the Trump administration implemented a threat of retaliation targeting foreigners involved in content moderation. Ministry of Foreign Affairs Sanctions announced preventing US access to former EU Commissioner Thierry Breton, as well as four researchers, while issuing a deliberately chilling threat to others, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio claiming that “the State Department is ready and willing to expand today’s list if other foreign actors do not back down.”

One researcher who the State Department says is now banned and could be deported is Imran Ahmed, who runs the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), an organization aimed at identifying and countering online hate speech. Elon Musk tried and failed to impose censorship with a lawsuit That was dismissed in early 2024. Justice Charles Breyer wrote in his decision that X’s motive for suing was “to punish CCDH for CCDH posts that criticized

Other researchers include Anna-Lena von Hodenberg and Josephine Balon, leaders of HateAid, a non-profit organization working to Try to sue X in 2023 For “failing to remove criminal anti-Semitic content,” as well as Claire Milford, leader of the organization “ Global Disinformation IndexWhich works to “reform systems that enable misinformation.”

The press release announcing the sanctions was titled “Announcement of Measures to Combat the Global Censorship Industrial Complex.” The target of Republicans like House Judiciary Committee Leader Jim Jordanwhere they worked against attempts to apply fact-checking research and misinformation to social networks. Earlier this month, Reuters The State Department stated that US consulates had been ordered to do so Think about rejection H-1B visa applicants involved in content moderation, and a few days ago, the Office of the US Trade Representative He threatened revenge Against European tech giants like Spotify and SAP over supposedly “discriminatory” activity in regulating US tech platforms.

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