{"id":21329,"date":"2025-12-24T13:37:37","date_gmt":"2025-12-24T12:37:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/24\/two-british-anti-hate-speech-campaigners-sanctioned-by-us-state-department-uk-politics-live\/"},"modified":"2025-12-24T13:37:37","modified_gmt":"2025-12-24T12:37:37","slug":"two-british-anti-hate-speech-campaigners-sanctioned-by-us-state-department-uk-politics-live","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/24\/two-british-anti-hate-speech-campaigners-sanctioned-by-us-state-department-uk-politics-live\/","title":{"rendered":"Two British anti-hate speech campaigners sanctioned by US state department \u2013 UK politics live"},"content":{"rendered":"

Imran Ahmed and Clare Melford among five Europeans hit with visa bans over claims they wish to \u2018suppress American viewpoints they oppose\u2019<\/p>\n

The Global Disinformation Index<\/strong>, which is run by Clare Melford, one of the two Britons on the list of five Europeans facing US visa restrictions because of their work to stop online disinformation and hate (see 9.28am<\/a>), has described the US state department\u2019s decision as \u201cimmoral, unlawful and un-American\u201d. In a reponse, a GDI spokesperson said:<\/p>\n

The visa sanctions \u2026 are an authoritarian attack on free speech and an egregious act of government censorship.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Trump Administration is, once again, using the full weight of the federal government to intimidate, censor, and silence voices they disagree with. Their actions today are immoral, unlawful, and un-American.<\/p>\n

WE\u2019VE SANCTIONED: Anna-Lena von Hodenberg, the leader and founder of HateAid, a German organization founded after the 2017 German federal elections to counter conservative groups. HateAid is an official \u201ctrusted flagger\u201d (a censor) under the EU\u2019s anti-speech Digital Services Act (DSA) and routinely demands access to propriety social media platform data to help it censor more. Hodenberg cited threat of \u201cdisinformation\u201d from \u201cright-wing extremists\u201d online in upcoming U.S. and EU elections when circulating a petition for the DSA to become more strongly enforced to allow data access for \u201cresearchers\u201d.<\/p>\n

WE\u2019VE SANCTIONED: Josephine Ballon, co-leader of HateAid, who flags disfavored speech throughout Europe under the Digital Services Act. In addition to her running an official \u201ctrusted flagger\u201d body under the DSA, she serves on Germany\u2019s Advisory Council of the Digital Services Coordinator (DSC), which directly advises Germany\u2019s DSC on the application and enforcement of the DSA. In February 2025, Ballon spoke before an American audience in a notable 60 Minutes interview, outlining her position on censorship succinctly: \u201cFree speech needs boundaries.\u201d In October 2024, she vowed to stop the \u201cemotionalization of debates\u201d by \u201cregulating platforms\u201d.<\/p>\n

Continue reading…<\/a>
\nImran Ahmed and Clare Melford among five Europeans hit with visa bans over claims they wish to \u2018suppress American viewpoints they oppose\u2019
\nThe Global Disinformation Index, which is run by Clare Melford, one of the two Britons on the list of five Europeans facing US visa restrictions because of their work to stop online disinformation and hate (see 9.28am), has described the US state department\u2019s decision as \u201cimmoral, unlawful and un-American\u201d. In a reponse, a GDI spokesperson said:
\nThe visa sanctions \u2026 are an authoritarian attack on free speech and an egregious act of government censorship.
\nThe Trump Administration is, once again, using the full weight of the federal government to intimidate, censor, and silence voices they disagree with. Their actions today are immoral, unlawful, and un-American.
\nWE\u2019VE SANCTIONED: Anna-Lena von Hodenberg, the leader and founder of HateAid, a German organization founded after the 2017 German federal elections to counter conservative groups. HateAid is an official \u201ctrusted flagger\u201d (a censor) under the EU\u2019s anti-speech Digital Services Act (DSA) and routinely demands access to propriety social media platform data to help it censor more. Hodenberg cited threat of \u201cdisinformation\u201d from \u201cright-wing extremists\u201d online in upcoming U.S. and EU elections when circulating a petition for the DSA to become more strongly enforced to allow data access for \u201cresearchers\u201d.
\nWE\u2019VE SANCTIONED: Josephine Ballon, co-leader of HateAid, who flags disfavored speech throughout Europe under the Digital Services Act. In addition to her running an official \u201ctrusted flagger\u201d body under the DSA, she serves on Germany\u2019s Advisory Council of the Digital Services Coordinator (DSC), which directly advises Germany\u2019s DSC on the application and enforcement of the DSA. In February 2025, Ballon spoke before an American audience in a notable 60 Minutes interview, outlining her position on censorship succinctly: \u201cFree speech needs boundaries.\u201d In October 2024, she vowed to stop the \u201cemotionalization of debates\u201d by \u201cregulating platforms\u201d. Continue reading…Technology | The Guardian<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Imran Ahmed and Clare Melford among five Europeans hit with visa bans over claims they wish to \u2018suppress American viewpoints they oppose\u2019 The Global Disinformation Index, which is run by Clare Melford, one of the two Britons on the list of five Europeans facing US visa restrictions because of their work to stop online disinformation …<\/p>\n

Two British anti-hate speech campaigners sanctioned by US state department \u2013 UK politics live<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":21330,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21329"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21329"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21329\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}