US to impose visa restrictions on foreign nationals for 'censoring' Americans on social media

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that visas will be restricted to foreign nationals who the government deems to be “censoring” Americans on social media, as the Trump administration wages a new battle over free expression.

While the state secretary has not named specific entities, US tech companies have sought the government’s backing in challenging US allies in Europe, alleging censorship of social media platforms.

“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,” Rubio said.

Rubio added that some people from other nations are taking “flagrant censorship actions against US tech companies and US citizens and residents when they have no authority to do so.”

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The latest move comes after social media giants like Meta complained that the European Union’s Digital Services Act leads to censorship of their platforms. The Trump-appointed chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission in March warned that the EU Digital Services Act excessively restricts freedom of expression.

In January, Meta said it would end its U.S. fact-checking program in favour of community notes on controversial posts, but the company continues fact-checking elsewhere, including in Europe and Latin America.

EU regulators have issued preliminary findings that X, the platform owned by Trump ally Elon Musk that also relies on community notes, saying it breached the bloc’s content moderation rules.

Meanwhile, the bloc has defended its act, saying that it’s intended to make the online environment safer and fairer for users by compelling social media companies to tackle illegal content, including hate speech and child sexual abuse material.

A European Commission spokesperson said commissioners were aware of Rubio’s announcement, which “seems to be of a general nature.” The spokesperson declined to comment further.

With inputs from agencies