Donald Trump has banned two UK nationals from entering the US over claims they wish to "suppress American viewpoints they oppose."
Imran Ahmed, chief executive of the Centre for Countering Digital Hate, and Clare Melford, who runs the Global Disinformation Index, were among five Europeans hit with the visa bans.
Yesterday US secretary of state Marco Rubio issued a statement, which read: "The State Department is taking decisive action against five individuals who have led organized efforts to coerce American platforms to censor, demonetize, and suppress American viewpoints they oppose.
"These radical activists and weaponized NGOs have advanced censorship crackdowns by foreign states—in each case targeting American speakers and American companies. As such, I have determined that their entry, presence, or activities in the United States have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States."
US Under-Secretary of State Sarah Rodgers claimed on X, Centre for Countering Digital Hate "supports the UK’s Online Safety Act and EU’s Digital Services Act to expand censorship in Europe and around the world".
Among the five targeted was Thierry Breton, the former top tech regulator at the European Commission, who described it as a "witch hunt."
French President Emmanuel Macron has condemned the visa restrictions, calling them "intimidation" to undermine European digital sovereignty.
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Visual China Group via Getty Images)He issued this statement that read: "France condemns the visa restriction measures taken by the United States against Thierry Breton and four other European figures.
"These measures amount to intimidation and coercion aimed at undermining European digital sovereignty."
He added: "The rules governing the European Union’s digital space are not meant to be determined outside Europe."
Clare Melford, another British-based executive who runs the Global Disinformation Index (GDI), was also identified as one of the five Europeans who will be barred from entering the US.
A GDI spokesperson told The Mirror: "The visa sanctions announced today are 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. Their actions today are immoral, unlawful, and un-American.
"And, it must be said, deeply ironic. Only the bullies and petty fascists of the Trump administration could miss the irony of decrying 'speech suppression' while using state power to silence critics engaging in protected speech.
"GDI exists so that the public can understand and evaluate the information they find online. We fight speech with more speech. If only the federal government were brave enough to do the same.”