Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced new visa restrictions the Trump administration is implementing against foreign authorities who it says are “complicit” in censoring Americans.
“For too long, Americans have been fined, harassed, and even charged by foreign authorities for exercising their free speech rights,” Rubio wrote on X.
“Today, I am announcing a new visa restriction policy that will apply to foreign officials and persons who are complicit in censoring Americans. Free speech is essential to the American way of life – a birthright over which foreign governments have no authority.”
“Foreigners who work to undermine the rights of Americans should not enjoy the privilege of traveling to our country,” America’s top diplomat added. “Whether in Latin America, Europe, or elsewhere, the days of passive treatment for those who work to undermine the rights of Americans are over.”
The United States has long condemned censorship and repression by the Chinese Communist Party, Russia, and the Iranian and Cuban regimes, but the Trump administration more recently has added criticism against allies in Europe.
Vice President JD Vance argued that the European Union’s Digital Services Act could effectively export European-style censorship to the U.S. through pressure against American tech companies.
In February, Vance accused European leaders at the Munich Security Conference of suppressing dissenting opinions by categorizing those views as “misinformation” and “disinformation.”
The vice president specifically cited the United Kingdom’s prosecution over silent prayer outside an abortion clinic, the annulment of the Romanian 2024 presidential election results over alleged foreign interference, the conviction of a Christian activist in Sweden for burning a Quran and Germany policing anti-feminist views online.
“What I worry about is the threat from within – the retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values,” Vance said at the time.
Vance reiterated free speech concerns with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer during his meeting with Trump in the Oval Office later that month.
As protests and riots against mass migration erupted across the U.K. last summer in response to the fatal stabbing of three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class, British authorities threatened to possibly extradite and jail U.S. citizens for spreading “misinformation” online that violates the country’s anti-hate laws. The 17-year-old suspect was born in the U.K. to parents from Rwanda, according to reports.
