Rubio Unveils Visa Restrictions to “Protect” Americans From Foreign Censorship

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced new visa restrictions that he claims are targeted at foreign officials who perpetuate “censorship” of Americans on social media platforms — while his agency, under his direction, is scouring the social media accounts of immigrants in the U.S. for dissent.

In a statement announcing the policy on Wednesday, Rubio cited supposed concerns over free speech levied by foreign officials enforcing regulations for social media platforms — regulations often aimed at combating disinformation — that have affected American companies and individuals.

“It is unacceptable for foreign officials to issue or threaten arrest warrants on U.S. citizens or U.S. residents for social media posts on American platforms while physically present on U.S. soil,” Rubio said in a statement, ignoring that he has personally targeted U.S. residents for exercising their speech rights on U.S. soil.

Rubio singled out Latin America and Europe as places he may target with the visa policy.

The secretary of state did not specify which countries’ officials he may target with the visa restrictions. However, social media giants owned by the GOP’s Big Tech allies, like Elon Musk’s X and Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta, have faced numerous penalties under tech regulations. Brazil recently temporarily suspended X from the country due to disinformation, for instance, while X may also be facing fines under the EU’s social media regulations.

Republicans have also taken umbrage with Europe’s Digital Markets Act, antitrust regulations that target consolidation in the tech industry.

Ironically, Rubio said that such regulations impede on the U.S.’s sovereignty, even though Rubio’s policies seem to be retaliation against foreign entities for adopting regulations separate from the U.S.

“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,” Rubio’s statement said.

This is especially ironic as Rubio has said that he is actively working to censor Americans on behalf of Israel, a foreign entity, with the administration working to erode free speech rights of Americans who criticize Israel and its genocide in Gaza.

Indeed, as Politico reported this week, Rubio is preparing to issue guidance for officials to scour the social media accounts of student visa applicants for supposed “antisemitism” — which is frequently used by the administration as code for speech critical of Israel.

The administration has already been conducting social media searches of students applying for visas or other residency in the U.S., but has largely targeted those known to have participated in pro-Palestine activism.

At the same time, the administration has said that its attempted restrictions on Harvard University’s foreign student enrollment are in service of “root[ing] out the evils of anti-Americanism.”

The new restrictions come amid a sweeping crackdown on immigration and Americans of color, with the administration working to deport thousands of people from the U.S. and seeking to block thousands of people from entering.

Rubio also announced on Wednesday that the Trump administration is working to “aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students” and will tighten visa restrictions for people from China or Hong Kong. He singled out people with supposed connections to the Chinese Communist Party — which can be as broad as people with affiliations with the government — or people studying “critical fields.”