EU Condemns U.S. Visa Bans as Legal Fight by Targeted Activist Advances

Overview

• The United States on December 23 barred entry to five Europeans tied to platform regulation and disinformation work: Thierry Breton; Imran Ahmed (CCDH); Anna-Lena von Hodenberg and Josephine Ballon (HateAid); and Clare Melford (Global Disinformation Index).
• The European Commission requested clarifications from Washington and warned it could respond quickly, as the European Council’s António Costa and leaders in France and Germany denounced the measures as unacceptable among allies.
• Imran Ahmed filed suit in New York challenging the action, secured a judge’s temporary block on deportation, and has a preliminary hearing scheduled for Monday.
• U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, said the bans counter what they call extraterritorial censorship, and a State Department official labeled Breton the architect of the EU’s Digital Services Act.
• The confrontation follows stepped-up EU enforcement of the DSA, including a roughly €120 million fine on X this month that U.S. officials criticized as targeting American platforms.