Washington, 24 December 2025 (dpa/MIA) - The United States has imposed entry bans on five people over alleged censorship of US online platforms, the US Department of State said on Tuesday.

Among those affected are the two managing directors of the German organization HateAid, which campaigns against online abuse. The State Department said the ban applies to Anna-Lena von Hodenberg and Josephine Ballon, Under Secretary of State Sarah Rogers said on X.

Von Hodenberg was awarded Germany's Federal Order of Merit in October in recognition of her work against digital violence.

HateAid, founded in 2018, is regarded as Germany's first nationwide counselling centre for people affected by online abuse.

The entry ban also targets former French EU commissioner Thierry Breton, who is considered one of the architects of the EU's Digital Services Act, legislation that regulates online platforms.

Two other individuals named by the State Department are Imran Ahmed, founder of the Center for Countering Digital Hate US/UK, and Clare Melford, founder of the UK-based Global Disinformation Index. Both organizations work to counter online hate speech and disinformation.

HateAid calls move an 'act of repression'

Ballon and von Hodenberg criticized the US decision as an "act of repression," saying they were not surprised by the move.

"It is an act of repression by a government that is increasingly disregarding the rule of law and trying to silence its critics with maximum force," they told dpa.

"We will not allow ourselves to be intimidated by a government that instrumentalizes censorship allegations to silence those who stand up for human rights and freedom of expression," the statement said.

They said that HateAid would continue its work with full commitment and stood in solidarity with others affected by the sanctions.

France and Breton condemn sanctions

Breton also sharply criticized the US move, comparing the sanctions announced by the State Department against him and four others to the "witch hunt" against alleged communists during the McCarthy era in the US.

"To our American friends: 'Censorship isn't where you think it is'," Breton said in a post on X.

The French government also strongly condemned the decision.

Breton and French officials stressed that the Digital Services Act had been adopted by the European Parliament and all EU member states with a strong democratic majority to ensure that the internet does not become a lawless space.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot rejected claims by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has described the EU law as "an attack on all American tech platforms and the American people by foreign governments."

"The Digital Services Act (DSA) was democratically adopted in Europe to ensure that what is illegal offline is also illegal online. It has absolutely no extraterritorial reach and in no way affects the United States," Barrot said on X.

"The peoples of Europe are free and sovereign and cannot let the rules governing their digital space be imposed by others upon them," he said.

Initially, the State Department had only referred to the five individuals as "radical activists" and "weaponized" non-governmental organizations that had promoted censorship measures by foreign states.

The five individuals had led "organized efforts to coerce American platforms to censor, demonetize, and suppress American viewpoints they oppose," the department said.

Rubio earlier wrote on X: "For far too long, ideologues in Europe have led organized efforts to coerce American platforms to punish American viewpoints they oppose."

"The Trump Administration will no longer tolerate these egregious acts of extraterritorial censorship," Rubio added.

Rubio said the State Department was therefore initiating entry bans against what he described as leading figures of the global "censorship-industrial complex," with the list able to be expanded "if others do not reverse course."

Rubio and other US officials have repeatedly criticized what they allege is online censorship in Europe. The comments followed a decision by the European Commission to fine X, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, €120 million ($141 million) over transparency shortcomings.

MIA file photo