ARCHIVAL PHOTO: US Undersecretary of State Sarah Rogers © Social Media
U.S. Undersecretary of State Sarah Rogers defended Washington's decision to impose sanctions on respective Europeans, claiming that "exterior censorship of Americans" undermines freedom of speech and innovation.
Last week, the U.S. State Department imposed sanctions on 5 people, including UK citizens Imran Ahmed and Clare Melford, German citizen Anna-Lena von Hodenberg and Josephine Ballon, and erstwhile EU Commissioner for the interior marketplace Thierry Breton.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that sanctioned persons "directed organized actions to force US platforms to punish American views they oppose".
In an interview with Sunday Times Rogers said that these measures are intended to defend freedom of speech and the competitiveness of the American technological sector.
"These are people who in many cases took government money to destruct American companies to suppress American freedom of speech" – She said.
"These are yet serious decisions that belong to the Secretary of State and take into account all our abroad policy priorities.
However, freedom of expression is 1 of these priorities, as is the continued ability of the American technological sector to lead and innovate.” She added.
Sanctions have been imposed in the context of an expanding dispute between the US and the EU on the regulation of online speaking, on the management of digital platforms and on the scope of national government outside their borders.
Elon Musk, whose X platform was fined around EUR 120 million ($140 million) by EU regulators for, as they have stated, breach of the transparency rules set out in the Digital Services Act, welcomed this step, calling it "great."
Prior to that, Musk criticised the punishment, calling the EU "bureaucratic monster"which should be abolished while accusing Brussels of trying to exert force on platform X to censor statements.
French president Emmanuel Macron, who himself appointed Breton, accused Washington of ‘force and intimidation’.
The British Labour MP, Chi Onwurah, said that banning citizens from access to free speech undermines the freedom of speech which the US administration supposedly defends.
The dispute is reflected in Washington's latest National safety Strategy, which warns that the EU is facing a potential ‘civilizational exchange’ due to restrictions on freedom of expression, suppression of political opposition and regulatory force on innovation.
Translated by Google Translator
source:https://www.rt.com/news/630174-us-defends-sanctions-on-europeans/
