US to deny visas to foreign officials it says 'censor' social media

Against backdrop of EU rules on spread of misinfo plus UK probing role of online hate in far right riots

The US government says it'll refuse visas to foreign officials judged to have censored social media posts of American citizens - a move aimed at countries trying to stem the flow of online misinformation.

Virkkunen claimed US sites often block material that is not censored in Europe, such as discussions about euthanasia, and images of statues and other nude artworks

In an announcement by the Department of State, secretary Marco Rubio said free speech is among the most cherished rights enjoyed by Americans, and complained that governments have taken "flagrant censorship actions" against some US tech companies, citizens and residents, when they had no authority to do so.

"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.  It is unacceptable for foreign officials to issue or threaten arrest warrants on US citizens or US residents for social media posts on American platforms while physically present on US soil," Rubio said.

"It is similarly unacceptable for foreign officials to demand that American tech platforms adopt global content moderation policies or engage in censorship activity that reaches beyond their authority and into the United States," he added.

The announcement did not specify any individual incident or point the finger at any particular nation, but there was much controversy in the UK last year when social media sites were accused of spreading misinformation in relation to a fatal stabbing in the town of Southport.

It was reported that MPs in Britain's Parliament were to summon X owner Elon Musk to testify about his platform's role in the riots, as part of an investigation into whether the business models of big tech companies "encourage the spread of content that can mislead and harm".

However, X has also had run-ins with the EU, becoming the first online platform to have Digital Services Act (DSA) proceedings launched against it over a year ago.  The European Commission (EC) accused the site of disseminating illegal content, among other violations of the Act.

At the heart of the issue is that US social media firms say legislation such as the DSA amounts to censorship of their platforms. However, while these are US-based operations, their content is viewed by millions of people in regions like the EU and UK, where some of that content may fall foul of local laws.

In response to criticism of the DSA, the EC Commissioner for Technological Sovereignty, Security and Democracy Henna Virkkunen said that far more content is removed by American social media sites themselves using their own rules.

"Often in the US, platforms have more strict rules with content," she said in an interview with European news website Euractiv.

She cited figures showing that 99 percent of online content removal cases between September 2023 and April 2024 related to content that was taken down from online platforms such as Meta and X, under their own T&Cs.

Virkkunen claimed US sites often block material that is not censored in Europe, such as discussions about euthanasia, and images of statues and other nude artworks.

It should perhaps also be pointed out that the US itself passed legislation to protect its citizens from foreign-owned social media operations. The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act has so far been used to rule that China-owned TikTok must sell off the US side of its operations to buyers acceptable to Washington – although this has yet to happen. ®