State Department imposes sanctions on former EU official, disinformation group leaders for ‘censorship’

By Jennifer Hansler, CNN

(CNN) — The US State Department on Tuesday imposed visa sanctions on a former top European Union official and employees of organizations that combat disinformation for alleged censorship – sharply ratcheting up the Trump administration’s fight against European regulations that have impacted digital platforms, far-right politicians and Trump allies, including Elon Musk.

In a statement, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused the five sanctioned people of leading “organized efforts to coerce American platforms to censor, demonetize, and suppress American viewpoints they oppose.”

Top Trump administration officials have repeatedly condemned European nations for alleged censorship, and the latest State Department human rights report alleged “significant human rights issues” in allies like the United Kingdom, France, and Germany over “serious restrictions on freedom of expression.”

The new sanctions were quickly met by outcry from European officials, including the French president.

Among those sanctioned Tuesday are Thierry Breton, a former European commissioner involved in the Digital Services Act (DSA), a sweeping EU law that requires Big Tech platforms to take meaningful steps to reduce illegal and harmful content.

In a social media post on Tuesday, Breton questioned: “Is McCarthy’s witch hunt back?”, referencing the late senator’s Cold-War era inquisition of alleged communists who he claimed had infiltrated American government institutions.

“To our American friends: ‘Censorship isn’t where you think it is,’” he said on X.

The European Commission strongly condemned the move to impose travel restrictions on Breton and four other European individuals, and said it has requested clarifications from the US authorities

“If needed, we will respond swiftly and decisively to defend our regulatory autonomy against unjustified measures,” a statement said on Tuesday.

French President Emmanuel Macron said in a post on X that the measures “amount to intimidation and coercion aimed at undermining European digital sovereignty.”

The State Department also targeted the CEO of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, Imran Ahmed. The organization says it “works to stop the spread of online hate and disinformation through innovative research, public campaigns and policy advocacy.”

CNN reached out to the Center for Countering Digital Hate but did not immediately receive a reply.

Clare Melford, the CEO of the Global Disinformation Index, was also sanctioned. The organization describes itself as working to strengthen “the systems that make the internet safer by working with governments, industry, and civil society.”

In a statement to CNN a spokesperson for GDI said that the sanctions amounted to an “authoritarian attack on free speech and an egregious act of government censorship.”

“The Trump Administration is, once again, using the full weight of the federal government to intimidate, censor, and silence voices they disagree with,” the spokesperson said. “Their actions today are immoral, unlawful, and un-American.”

Leaders of the German organization HateAid, Josephine Ballon and Anna-Lena von Hodenberg, were also sanctioned. The organization aims to combat “hate, violence and systematic disinformation” on the internet.

In a statement Tuesday, the two said they were “not surprised” by the sanctions.

“It is an act of repression by a government that is increasingly disregarding the rule of law and trying to silence its critics by any means necessary. This marks a new escalation: The US government is clearly questioning European sovereignty,” they said.

“We will not be intimidated by a government that uses accusations of censorship to silence those who stand up for human rights and freedom of expression,” they continued. “Despite the significant strain and restrictions placed on us and our families by US government measures, we will continue our work with all our strength — now more than ever. We stand in solidarity with all those affected, and with all those who now fear similar measures.”

Rubio’s statement said that for the five sanctioned people, he had “determined that their entry, presence, or activities in the United States have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.”

“These radical activists and weaponized NGOs have advanced censorship crackdowns by foreign states—in each case targeting American speakers and American companies,” he said.

The top US diplomat said that “based on these determinations,” the State Department “has taken steps to impose visa restrictions on agents of the global censorship-industrial complex who, as a result, will be generally barred from entering the United States.” Further, the Department of Homeland Security “can initiate removal proceedings against certain individuals … which renders such individuals deportable,” he said.

Breton has repeatedly clashed with Musk over the Digital Services Act. In August 2024, Breton told Musk in a letter – ahead of an interview with Donald Trump – that he must comply with the regulation, according to Reuters.

US Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy Sarah Rogers specifically referenced that letter in a post on X Tuesday, accusing Breton of having “ominously reminded Musk of X’s legal obligations and ongoing ‘formal proceedings’ for alleged noncompliance with ‘illegal content’ and ‘disinformation’ requirements under the DSA.”

Rogers said Ahmed was a “key collaborator with the Biden Administration’s effort to weaponize the government against U.S. citizens.” She indicated he had been sanctioned, in part, for the organization’s 2022 “Disinformation Dozen” report, which took aim at 12 anti-vaxxers, including now-HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., responsible for the majority of anti‑vaccine content circulating on social media platforms.

Rogers, in a social media post, accused Melford’s organization of using US “taxpayer money to exhort censorship and blacklisting of American speech and press.”

“The State Department stands ready and willing to expand today’s list if other foreign actors do not reverse course,” Rubio said.

In February Vice President JD Vance used one of his first major speeches after taking office to criticize what he described as censorship efforts in Europe in a speech delivered at the Munich Security Conference.

He claimed that leaders had “threatened and bullied social media companies to censor so-called misinformation,” citing the example of the Covid-19 lab leak theory.

“It looks more and more like old entrenched interest, hiding behind ugly, Soviet-era words like misinformation and disinformation, who simply don’t like the idea that somebody with an alternative viewpoint might express a different opinion,” he added.

This story has been updated with additional reaction.

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