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Source: People's Republic of China in Russian – People's Republic of China in Russian –
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Source: People's Republic of China – State Council News
Washington, December 24 (Xinhua) — The US administration on Tuesday imposed visa restrictions on five citizens of the European Union (EU) and the UK for their involvement in censoring content on American social media, the US State Department said in a statement.
The visa restrictions are being introduced in accordance with the US administration's National Security Strategy, published earlier this month, which accuses European leaders of restricting freedom of speech.
American diplomats have spoken out against the European Union's Digital Services Act. Washington argues that the law restricts free speech and imposes stricter regulatory compliance requirements on American tech companies.
"The State Department is taking decisive action against five individuals who led an organized effort to censor, demonetize, and suppress American viewpoints they disagree with on American platforms," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement, without naming specific individuals.
Sarah Rogers, Under-Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy, later revealed the names of those included on the sanctions list on the social media platform X. Among them was former EU Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton, whom she called "the mastermind behind the Digital Services Act."
According to S. Rogers, visa restrictions also affected Imran Ahmed, a British citizen and director of the US-based Center for Countering Digital Hate; Anna-Lena von Hodenberg and Josephine Ballon of the German non-profit HateAid; and Claire Melford, co-founder of the Global Disinformation Index. –0–
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