The U.S. State Department, headed by Secretary Marco Rubio, announced a new policy on Wednesday targeting foreign countries that it accused of censoring Americans’ freedom of speech.
The policy would create visa restrictions “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,” Rubio said in a post on social media.
“For too long, Americans have been fined, harassed, and even charged by foreign authorities for exercising their free speech rights,” he added. “Foreigners who work to undermine the rights of Americans should not enjoy the privilege of traveling to our country. Whether in Latin America, Europe, or elsewhere, the days of passive treatment for those who work to undermine the rights of Americans are over.”
The State Department’s announcement is not the first instance in which the second Trump administration has pushed against free speech censorship around the globe.
In February, Vice President JD Vance made comments at the Munich Security Conference concerning some European countries that have allowed free speech to be “in retreat,” resembling something more similar to Russia or China than the U.S.
“To many of us on the other side of the Atlantic, it looks more and more like old entrenched interests hiding behind ugly Soviet-era words like misinformation and disinformation, who simply don’t like the idea that somebody with an alternative viewpoint might express a different opinion or, God forbid, vote a different way, or even worse, win an election,” he said.
When U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer visited the Oval Office and met with Trump and some of his top advisers, including Vance, in February, the vice president doubled down on the idea that censorship of free speech in other countries affects Americans’ constitutional rights.
“Of course, what the British do in their own country is up to them,” Vance said. “But (it) also affect(s) American technology companies and, by extension, American citizens.”
A former State Department official familiar with visa restrictions told Politico the new policy seems legally sound, likely due to its broadness:
“I guess the question is what does this administration consider to be an adverse foreign policy consequence?” the anonymous official said. “If there’s an American Nazi posting stuff in France and France is like, banning pro-Nazi stuff, is Rubio going to say that the owners of that French platform doing content moderation are barred from entry to the United States?”
GOP members of the House Judiciary Committee vocalized their approval of the policy on X, calling it “Excellent news!”
“We’ve been exposing foreign censorship efforts over the past year. Now, those who want to silence your speech are being held accountable.”