Latest news with #visaRestrictions
Bloomberg
3 hours ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
UK Builders Still Able to Hire From Abroad Under Visa Clampdown
Construction workers from abroad will still be able to migrate to the UK despite tighter visa restrictions announced by the government, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said, as Labour attempts to slash migration without damaging critical sectors of the economy. Speaking to Parliament's Home Affairs Committee on Tuesday, Cooper said officials had already identified a series of occupations that would not appear on the new Temporary Shortage List. That list will allow employers to bring workers into the country who would not otherwise be eligible, because the job is classed as below degree level.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Opinion - Marco Rubio declares war on the global censors
Winston Churchill once warned that 'appeasement is feeding the crocodile, hoping he will eat you last.' When it comes to the crocodile of censorship, history is strewn with defenders who later became digestives. Censorship produces an insatiable appetite for greater and greater speech limits, and today's censorship supporters often become tomorrow's censored subjects. This week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio stopped feeding the crocodile. On May 28, 2025, Rubio shocked many of our allies by issuing a new visa restriction policy that bars foreign nationals deemed 'responsible for censorship of protected expression' in the U.S. The new policy follows a major address by Vice President J.D. Vance in Munich challenging our European allies to end their systematic attacks on free speech. Vance declared, 'If you are running in fear of your own voters, there is nothing America can do for you. Nor, for that matter, is there anything that you can do for the American people that elected me and elected President Trump.' At the time, I called the speech 'Churchillian' in drawing a bright line for the free world. Rubio's action is no less impressive and even more impactful. Europe has faced no consequences for its aggressive efforts at transnational censorship. Indeed, this should not be a fight for the administration alone. Congress should explore reciprocal penalties for foreign governments targeting American companies or citizens for engaging in protected speech. After Vance spoke in Munich, I spoke in Berlin at the World Forum, where European leaders gathered in one of the most strikingly anti-free speech conferences I have attended. This year's forum embraced the slogan 'A New World Order with European Values.' That 'new world order' is based on an aggressive anti-free speech platform that has been enforced for years by the European Union. At the heart of this effort is the Digital Services Act, a draconian law that allows for sweeping censorship and speech prosecutions. Most importantly, it has been used by the EU to threaten American corporations for their failure to censor Americans and others on social media sites. After the World Forum, I returned home to warn that this is now an existential war over a right that defines us as a people —the very 'Indispensable Right' identified by Justice Louis Brandeis, which is essential for every other right in the Constitution. The irony was crushing. I wrote about how this nation has fought to protect our rights in world wars, yet many in Congress simply shrug or even support the effort as other countries move to make Americans censor other Americans. What was most unnerving about Berlin was how Americans have encouraged Europeans to target their fellow citizens. At the forum was Hillary Clinton who, after Elon Musk purchased Twitter on a pledge to dismantle its massive censorship system, called upon the EU to use the Digital Services Act to force him to resume censorship. Other Americans have appeared before the EU to call upon it to oppose the U.S. Nina Jankowicz, the former head of President Joe Biden's infamous Disinformation Governance Board, has recently returned to he EU to rally other nations to oppose what she described as 'the autocracy, the United States of America.' She warned that the Digital Services Act was under attack, and that the EU had to fight and beat the U.S.: 'Do not capitulate. Hold the line.' Former European Commissioner for Internal Markets and Services Thierry Breton even threatened Musk for interviewing Trump before our last presidential election. He told Musk that he was being 'monitored' in conducting any interview with now-President Trump. The EU is doubling down on these efforts, including threatening Musk with prosecution and massive confiscatory fines if he does not resume censoring users of X. The penalties are expected to exceed $1 billion. Other countries are following suit. Brazilian Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes shut down X in his entire country over Musk's refusal to remove political posts. These countries could remotely control speech within the U.S., forcing companies like X to meet the lowest common denominator set by the EU and anti-free speech groups. There are free speech concerns even in such measures designed to protect free speech. This policy should be confined to government officials, particularly EU officials, who are actively seeking to export European censorship systems worldwide. It should not extend to academics or individuals who are part of the growing anti-free speech movement. Free speech itself can counter those voices. These are the same voices that we have heard throughout history, often using the very same terms and claims to silence others. However, Rubio showed Europe that the U.S. would not simply stand by as European censors determined what Americans could say, read, or watch. As the EU threatens companies like X with billion-dollar fines, it is time for the U.S. to treat this as an attack on our citizens from abroad. Franklin Delano Roosevelt put it simply during World War II: 'No man can tame a tiger into a kitten by stroking it.' It is time to get serious about the European threat to free speech. And Rubio is doing just that — finally imposing real consequences for censorship. We are not going to defeat censors by yelling at them. Speech alone clearly does not impress them. Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University and the author of 'The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Times of Oman
6 days ago
- Business
- Times of Oman
US imposes visa restrictions on foreign officials over free speech
Washington: The United States has announced new visa restrictions targeting foreign officials accused of censoring American citizens, marking an escalation in the Trump administration's confrontation with allies over free speech policies. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio unveiled the measures, stating that Americans had been "fined, harassed, and even charged by foreign authorities for exercising their free speech rights." In a post shared on social media platform X, Rubio said the restrictions would apply to "foreign officials and persons who are complicit in censoring Americans," adding that free speech was "a birthright over which foreign governments have no authority." In a statement, Rubio stated, "Free speech is among the most cherished rights we enjoy as Americans. This right, legally enshrined in our constitution, has set us apart as a beacon of freedom around the world. Even as we take action to reject censorship at home, we see troubling instances of foreign governments and foreign officials picking up the slack. In some instances, foreign officials have taken flagrant censorship actions against U.S. tech companies and U.S. citizens and residents when they have no authority to do so." "Today, I am announcing a new visa restriction policy that will apply to foreign nationals who are responsible for censorship of protected expression in the United States. It is unacceptable for foreign officials to issue or threaten arrest warrants on US citizens or US residents for social media posts on American platforms while physically present on US soil," he added. The announcement follows a high-profile dispute between X owner, Elon Musk, and Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, which arose after the social media platform was ordered to remove certain posts. The measures also align with a Republican-authored bill titled the "No Censors on Our Shores" Act, which was approved by the House Judiciary Committee earlier this year. Also, US Vice President JD Vance has been particularly vocal in criticising European approaches to online content regulation. He has argued that the European Union's Digital Services Act could effectively "export European-style censorship" to the United States through pressure on American technology companies. Speaking at the Munich Security Conference in February, Vance accused European leaders of suppressing dissenting opinions by labelling them as "misinformation" and "disinformation." The Vice President cited several specific examples of what he characterised as European overreach, including the UK's prosecution of individuals for silent prayer outside abortion clinics, the annulment of Romania's 2024 presidential election results over alleged foreign interference, and Germany's monitoring of anti-feminist content online. He also referenced the conviction of a Christian activist in Sweden for burning a Quran, warning of what he called "the retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values." The new visa restrictions signal a significant shift in the US diplomatic approach, with America's top diplomat declaring that "the days of passive treatment for those who work to undermine the rights of Americans are over." The visa restrictions were announced as the administration separately examines enhanced social media vetting requirements for student visas. On Tuesday, Rubio instructed diplomatic missions to suspend interviews for additional student and exchange visitor visa appointments, including F, M, and J categories, according to media reports.
Bloomberg
6 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
US Announces Visa Curbs Targeting Social Media ‘Censorship'
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced visa restrictions on foreign officials and other individuals who 'censor Americans,' including those who target American technology companies, as the Trump administration steps up a confrontation with other countries over their social media policies. Without giving specifics, Rubio cited instances of foreign governments censoring protected speech in the US, saying it was unacceptable for foreigners to 'issue or threaten arrest warrants on US citizens or US residents for social media posts on American platforms,' according to a statement on Wednesday.
Al Jazeera
6 days ago
- Business
- Al Jazeera
US to penalise foreign officials who ‘censor' US companies, citizens
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said the US will place new visa restrictions on foreign officials who 'censor' American companies and citizens abroad for speech protected in the United States, warning that demanding greater content moderation by US social media companies is 'unacceptable'. 'I am announcing a new visa restriction policy that will apply to foreign nationals who are responsible for censorship of protected expression in the United States,' Rubio said in a statement on Wednesday. The administration of US President Donald Trump has frequently depicted social media content moderation policies as a form of censorship targeting conservatives, and has criticised foreign governments that encourage such policies. 'Even as we take action to reject censorship at home, we see troubling instances of foreign governments and foreign officials picking up the slack,' he said. 'In some instances, foreign officials have taken flagrant censorship actions against US tech companies and US citizens and residents when they have no authority to do so.' Rubio, who has helped spearhead a crackdown on international students who speak out against Israel's war in Gaza, did not name any foreign officials who the policy would target, but the administration has previously criticised countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany, and Brazil on those grounds. '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,' Rubio wrote in a post on X. Claims of anti-conservative censorship have also become a means for the Trump administration to strengthen ties with far-right parties and figures in Europe and around the globe. The Department of State on Tuesday shared an essay that calls for allies in Europe who embrace a 'shared Western civilizational heritage' and states that governments on the continent have 'weaponized political institutions against their own citizens'. 'Far from strengthening democratic principles, Europe has devolved into a hotbed of digital censorship, mass migration, restrictions on religious freedom, and numerous other assaults on democratic self-governance,' the essay reads, mirroring statements made by Vice President JD Vance at the Munich Security Conference in February. Still, criticising curbs on civil liberties and restrictions on speech is not exclusive to the right. Pro-Palestine groups have frequently decried restrictions in Europe and the United States, carried out under the pretext of combating anti-Semitism, but critics say extend to even basic expressions of Palestinian identity. Rubio's announcement comes as the administration continues a crackdown on international students involved in pro-Palestine protests at US universities, along with efforts to impose greater control over university curricula that the administration takes issue with. In recent remarks before the US Congress, Rubio defended the administration's decision to arrest and detain a Turkish international student named Rumeysa Ozturk for co-signing an op-ed calling for an end to US support for Israel's war in Gaza. Such actions have sparked strong criticism from civil liberties groups in the US, who say they are an effort to chill dissent.
