Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced new visa restrictions for those involved in censoring Americans.
“For too long, Americans have been fined, harassed, and even charged by foreign authorities for exercising their free speech rights,” Rubio wrote on social media. “Today, I am announcing a new visa restriction policy that will apply to foreign officials and persons who are complicit in censoring Americans. Free speech is essential to the American way of life – a birthright over which foreign governments have no authority.”
“Foreigners who work to undermine the rights of Americans should not enjoy the privilege of traveling to our country,” he added. “Whether in Latin America, Europe, or elsewhere, the days of passive treatment for those who work to undermine the rights of Americans are over.”
In an official statement with the State Department, Rubio called free speech one of the “most cherished rights we enjoy as Americans.”
“In some instances, foreign officials have taken flagrant censorship actions against U.S. tech companies and U.S. citizens and residents when they have no authority to do so,” he explained, adding that it is “unacceptable” for foreign officials to threaten U.S. citizens or residents for posts made on American platforms on American soil.
“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,” he said. “We will not tolerate encroachments upon American sovereignty, especially when such encroachments undermine the exercise of our fundamental right to free speech.”
