The UK government has said it is “fully committed to upholding the right to free speech” after the United States imposed visa bans on five European campaigners involved in online safety and anti-disinformation work, including two British citizens.
The move, announced by the US State Department, has prompted criticism from several European governments and EU figures, and has sharpened a growing transatlantic dispute over how far governments should go in regulating online content.
Among those barred from entering the US are Imran Ahmed, chief executive of the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), and Clare Melford, who leads the Global Disinformation Index (GDI). Both organisations have been prominent in efforts to push technology platforms and advertisers to limit the reach and monetisation of content they describe as harmful or misleading.
In a statement issued after the US announcement, a UK government spokesperson said: “The UK is fully committed to upholding the right to free speech.” The spokesperson added that the government also believed social media platforms “should not be used to disseminate child sex abuse material, incite hatred and violence, or spread fake information”, reflecting the UK’s position that free expression must be balanced against protections from illegal and harmful content online.
US officials said the bans were aimed at individuals they accused of trying to pressure American companies into restricting lawful speech. Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, said the campaigners had led efforts to “coerce American platforms to punish American viewpoints”, portraying the measures as a response to what Washington described as attempts to impose European-style speech controls beyond Europe’s borders.
Sarah Rogers, the US under secretary of state for public diplomacy, also defended the decision, arguing it was intended to draw a line against what the administration characterised as “extraterritorial censorship”.
The decision has been met with anger among European leaders and institutions, who framed the bans as political intimidation directed at people involved in shaping or supporting democratically agreed rules for the digital sphere.
French President Emmanuel Macron criticised the US action, describing it as “intimidation and coercion” against Europe’s approach to regulating online services. France and Germany were among those to condemn the move, while EU figures have defended Europe’s right to set rules for platforms operating in its markets.
The UK’s response was more measured, emphasising support for free speech while also underlining the government’s commitment to tackling illegal and harmful material online. The issue intersects with Britain’s Online Safety Act, which places duties on platforms to address certain types of content and risks, and has been watched closely in Washington amid a wider political debate over content moderation and the role of regulation.
Campaign groups affected by the bans rejected the US characterisation of their work. The Global Disinformation Index said the sanctions amounted to “an authoritarian attack on free speech”, calling them “immoral, unlawful and un-American”. Supporters of the targeted organisations said the bans appeared aimed at deterring scrutiny of major social media companies and online influence operations.
The visa row comes as tensions have been rising between the US and European allies over digital regulation. The European Union’s Digital Services Act, which took effect in stages after being adopted in 2022, has imposed new requirements on the largest online platforms to tackle illegal content and to assess and reduce systemic risks, including disinformation and harms to children. In Europe, these measures are often presented as essential to public safety and democratic resilience; in the US, critics have increasingly cast them as government-backed censorship.
The dispute has also unfolded against the backdrop of escalating enforcement and political pressure around major platforms. Earlier this month EU regulators imposed a €120m fine on Elon Musk’s X, a development that has been cited by European officials as evidence that the bloc is prepared to police online rules, but which has been seized on by US critics as an example of overreach.
It remains unclear whether the UK will pursue formal diplomatic action in response to the bans, or treat the matter as a sovereign US immigration decision while continuing to defend its domestic approach to online regulation. British officials did not indicate any immediate retaliatory steps, but the episode is expected to add strain to UK-US discussions on technology, online governance and wider cooperation in areas including AI and digital trade.