Rubio Announces Visa Restrictions on Foreign Officials ‘Complicit’ in Censoring American Citizens

Secretary Rubio says he is implementing new restrictions on foreign officials who are “complicit in censoring Americans.” The limitations could have consequences even for America’s allies, with the European Union and the United Kingdom being consistently criticized by the Trump administration for their speech policies. The White House has been using visa restrictions as a cudgel against individuals and governments alike in order to achieve certain aims, including with respect to trade and deportations. Just the day before Mr. Rubio announced the new visa policy, the administration paused all visa appointments for would-be students as the Department of State considers new social media vetting for those seeking to study in the United States. “Today, I am announcing a new visa restriction policy that will apply to foreign nationals who are responsible for censorship of protected expression in the United States,” Mr. Rubio said in a statement Wednesday. “It is unacceptable for foreign officials to issue or threaten arrest warrants on U.S. citizens or U.S. residents for social media posts on American platforms while physically present on U.S. soil.”“Free speech is essential to the American way of life — a birthright over which foreign governments have no authority,” the secretary of state added. The move seems to be a not-so-subtle shot at the EU and the U.K., which have both threatened to investigate American citizens for their speech on social media platforms.Last year, after a stabbing in England, British officials threatened to go after any foreigners, including Americans, who were involved in spreading misinformation online. The EU may soon fine Elon Musk and his X platform for breaking a law meant to crack down on disinformation. In his statement Wednesday, Mr. Rubio said it is “unacceptable” for foreign officials and governments “to demand that American tech platforms adopt global content moderation policies.” The secretary similarly called it unacceptable for officials to “engage in censorship activity that reaches beyond their authority and into the United States.”“We will not tolerate encroachments upon American sovereignty, especially when such encroachments undermine the exercise of our fundamental right to free speech,” he added. Vice President Vance — a former Silicon Valley venture capitalist with close ties to many in the tech industry — has long attacked the kinds of speech and content moderation laws in Europe that could now be used against Mr. Musk and other social media giants. “In Britain, and across Europe, free speech, I fear, is in retreat,” Mr. Vance said at the Munich Security Conference shortly after taking office earlier this year. “You cannot win a democratic mandate by censoring your opponents or putting them in jail — whether that’s the leader of the opposition, a humble Christian praying in her own home, or a journalist trying to report the news.”It isn’t just Europe that has come into the Trump administration’s — and Mr. Musk’s — crosshairs. Last year, X was shut down in Brazil after a supreme court justice ruled that Mr. Musk’s social media policies led to the spreading of hate speech in their country. “Elon Musk showed his total disrespect for Brazilian sovereignty and, in particular, for the judiciary, setting himself up as a true supranational entity and immune to the laws of each country,” Justice Alexandre de Moraes wrote in an opinion last year.

Rubio Announces Visa Restrictions on Foreign Officials ‘Complicit’ in Censoring American Citizens

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