US entry bans against HateAid not acceptable

Sanctions

Wadephul: US entry bans against HateAid not acceptable

The German Foreign Minister rejects the US government’s accusations of censorship and criticizes the actions against the managing directors of the aid organization HateAid. At the same time, he relies on dialogue.

Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul criticizes the entry bans imposed by the US government against the managing directors of the German advice center HateAid, which combats Internet hate speech, and others as unacceptable. The Digital Services Act (DSA), which regulates online platforms in the EU, ensures “that everything that is illegal offline is also illegal online,” wrote the CDU politician on X.

The DSA was democratically decided by the European Union for the EU and does not have an extraterritorial effect. “We generally want to clarify other views with the #USA in the transatlantic dialogue in order to strengthen our partnership,” added the Federal Foreign Minister. Former French EU Commissioner Thierry Breton, who is considered the architect of the Digital Services Act, is also affected by the US entry ban.

The US government justified the entry bans against Josephine Ballon and Anna-Lena von Hodenberg, as well as against three other Europeans, with alleged censorship of US online platforms. In their initial reaction, the managing directors spoke of an “act of repression”.