US denies ex-EU commissioner visaAFP, WASHINGTONThe US Department of State on Tuesday said that it would deny visas to a former EU commissioner and four others, accusing them of seeking to “coerce” US social media platforms into censoring viewpoints they oppose. “These radical activists and weaponized NGOs [non-governmental organizations] have advanced censorship crackdowns by foreign states — in each case targeting American speakers and American companies,” the department said in a statement announcing the sanctions. Then-European commissioner Thierry Breton attends an event at Sorbonne University in Paris on April 25 last year. The DSA stipulates that major platforms must explain content-moderation decisions, provide transparency for users and ensure researchers can carry out essential work, such as understanding how much children are exposed to dangerous content. The visa ban also targeted Imran Ahmed of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, a nonprofit that fights online hate, misinformation and disinformation that also fell in the crosshairs of Elon Musk after his takeover of Twitter, later renamed X.

Source: Taipei Times December 24, 2025 16:55 UTC