The US puts an end to visa granting to foreign Officials that Washington considers to censor American citizens on social media, the foreign minister said today Mark Rubiopresenting a new policy and implying that those who impose regulations on US technology companies will be targeted.
US Secretary of State Marko Rubio said in a statement that the new policy will be applied to foreigners responsible for censoring protected free expression in the US. He added that it is unacceptable foreign officials to threaten or issue arrest warrants for posts made on US soil.
“Similarly, it is unacceptable foreign officials to ask US technological platforms to adopt universal content control policies or to participate in censorship actions that go beyond their responsibilities and reach the US,” he added.
“Freedom of expression is essential to American way of life. It is an innate right for which foreign governments have no jurisdiction, “he added.
Rubio’s announcement does not name specific countries or persons who will be targeted but only says that some foreign officials are “blatantly” technology companies and US citizens and US residents “while not having the power to do so”. Last week, however, Washington targeted Alexander de Moraes of the Brazilian Supreme Court, who in 2024 confronts Hilo Mask and temporarily blocked the X platform in his country. The US government also accuses its allies, Germany and Britain, of limiting some posts that the two countries consider to be promoting hatred.
The US has already suspended thousands of visas, mainly students who were demonstrating against Israeli businesses in the Gaza Strip. The case of Turkala Roumeissa Ozturk, who did her doctorate at Tafch University in Massachusetts and was arrested in March by masked Migration Agents (ICE) for an opinion article in March, was a sensation. Ozturk was released in early May, ordered by a federal judge.