The Trump administration is attempting to ban five European online researchers from entering or remaining in the United States, accusing them of acting as "foreign censors" who suppress American viewpoints and coerce tech platforms into censoring free speech.
The targeted researchers work in tracking and regulating online disinformation, hate speech and harmful content. However, the State Department has labeled them "foreign censors" and used this designation to justify imposing visa bans.
RELATED STORY | Study says AI chatbots need to fix suicide response, as family sues over ChatGPT role in boy's death
The government initiated removal proceedings against Imran Ahmed, CEO of the nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate; but a federal judge in Manhattan temporarily blocked officials from arresting and deporting him.
"This is a real surprise to come just before Christmas to be told by the U.S. government that for my advocacy for my speech that I could be deported and you know even more so when you consider that what our speech has been is protecting the public by doing critical research on the harms caused by social media and AI platforms to our kids our communities and our democracy," Ahmed told the Scripps News Group.
Ahmed, who is a permanent resident, criticized the move as serving the interests of tech companies rather than protecting Americans.
"And what I find so bizarre is that we're being punished for something that actually protects the American people. The only conclusion I can draw is that this is being done at the behest of big tech executives," Ahmed said.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT | Meta to eliminate third-party fact-checking, UFC's Dana White added to its board
The Center for Countering Digital Hate has conducted research that recently included how X is a "hotbed for antisemitism" and profits from hateful content that violates the platform's own policies. Other research has focused on YouTube pushing dangerous videos including eating disorder content to young girls and ChatGPT generating harmful advice about self-harm and suicide.
"The truth is that if you can be punished for criticizing social media platforms or AI platforms for their behavior, then we're in real trouble because checks and balances, look, they are the basis of the American experiment," Ahmed said. "And if we actually allow that to slip, tyranny awaits."
Ahmed said he hopes the courts reinforce his First Amendment rights. He has filed a lawsuit to stop the visa sanctions against him.
'There is no censorship here'
The State Department's action against these researchers comes just weeks after Elon Musk's X was fined nearly $140 million for breaching the European Union's landmark tech regulation, the Digital Services Act (DSA). The three main violations included the use of deceptive design for "verified" accounts, the lack of advertising transparency and insufficient data access for researchers.
Nina Jankowicz, CEO of The American Sunlight Project, noted the timing between the EU's fine against X and the targeting of the five European researchers, one of whom is considered the architect behind the DSA.
"It is not a content-based regulation. There is nothing in the DSA that says this type of content is okay and other types of content will be removed," Jankowicz told Scripps News.
"We're dealing with five people who have really held to account not only the tech companies, but groups and individuals that traffic online hate. Everything from anti-Semitism — you name it. Harms against children, far right or far left, extremism, we've seen it all," Jankowicz said. "And these folks were working within the confines of the Digital Services Act, which is Europe's tech regulation."
"There is no censorship here coming from those activists. The only censorship that I see in this situation is coming from the Trump administration itself," she added.
In response to the EU fine — one of the first-ever penalties of its kind under the tech regulation — Musk called for the EU to be abolished. The Trump administration defended the billionaire's company, calling the fine censorship and an attack on American companies and citizens over what they termed "garbage."
RELATED STORY | EU probes Musk's X for 'illegal content' related to Israel-Hamas war
Jankowicz, who formerly and briefly led the Department of Homeland Security's Disinformation Governance Board under the Biden administration, continues to face hateful threats after she was branded a censor. She said whether the Trump administration is successful in deporting Ahmed or banning these researchers, there will be a continued target on their work.
"I had sitting senators essentially say that I deserved what happened to be because they believed this lie about me the same way they're saying these things about my colleagues in Europe right now. It changes your life," Jankowicz said.
