The Trump administration just turned the tables on European regulators who've been pushing American tech companies to crack down on content. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard publicly backed new State Department sanctions targeting foreign officials who've tried to influence how U.S. platforms moderate speech.
Gabbard made her position clear on X, stating that "foreign nations seeking to impose their anti-freedom policies to censor American voices and force American platforms to regulate or silence our free speech is a gross violation of our sovereignty that must be answered with accountability."
Who Made the List
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Tuesday that five individuals had their visas restricted for leading coordinated campaigns to force American platforms to censor, demonetize, and silence American opinions. These aren't random bureaucrats either.
Rubio didn't mince words on X: "ideologues in Europe have led organized efforts to coerce American platforms to punish American viewpoints they oppose," adding that the Trump Administration "will no longer tolerate these egregious acts of extraterritorial censorship."
Under Secretary Sarah B. Rogers later named names. The most prominent is Thierry Breton, a former European Commissioner who previously threatened Elon Musk using the Digital Services Act as leverage. Breton had also warned Mark Zuckerberg's Meta Platforms Inc. (META) to move quickly against disinformation on its platforms.
The other four sanctioned individuals are Imran Ahmed from the Center for Countering Digital Hate; Clare Melford of the Global Disinformation Index; and Anna-Lena von Hodenberg and Josephine Ballon from the German organization HateAid.
Timing Tells a Story
The announcement comes shortly after the EU slapped X with a €120 million (roughly $140 million) penalty in early December. President Donald Trump's allies publicly backed Musk in opposing that fine.
This isn't happening in isolation. The Trump administration has already warned it might impose fees or restrictions on European companies if the EU continues what it calls "discriminatory" regulatory actions against U.S. tech firms. The transatlantic tech regulatory battle is heating up.
More Names Could Follow
Rubio made it clear this might just be the opening salvo. The department "stands ready and willing to expand today's list if other foreign actors do not reverse course," he warned. Translation: back off, or expect more consequences.