The US government accused these figures of trying to pressure American tech companies into restricting free speech. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called them part of a “global censorship-industrial complex” and defended the ban as a measure to protect US sovereignty.
Ahmed, who previously worked with senior Labour figures, has ties to the Biden administration through CCDH’s past campaigns. Melford’s GDI monitors the spread of disinformation globally. The US accused GDI of using taxpayer money to encourage censorship in America, a claim GDI strongly rejected, calling the ban an “authoritarian attack on free speech.”
European leaders criticized the US decision. French President Emmanuel Macron described it as intimidation aimed at undermining European digital independence, while EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas called it an unacceptable challenge to European sovereignty.
