A British anti-disinformation campaigner told by the Trump administration that he faces possible removal from the US has said he is being targeted by arrogant and “sociopathic” tech companies for trying to hold them to account.
Imran Ahmed, the chief executive of the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), is among five European nationals barred from the US by the state department after being accused of seeking to pressure tech firms to censor or suppress American viewpoints.
Ahmed lives lawfully in Washington DC with his American wife and daughter, meaning he is at risk of deportation. Late on Thursday, a court granted him a temporary restraining order to block any attempt to remove him from the US or detain him.
Ahmed told the Guardian he believed he had been singled out for his work seeking greater accountability and transparency for social media and AI firms, which has included Elon Musk’s X unsuccessfully suing CCDH.
Ahmed, who is a friend of Morgan McSweeney, Keir Starmer’s chief of staff, said it was another attempt to deflect accountability and transparency.
“This has never been about politics,” he added, saying his organisation had worked successfully with the first Trump administration and would do so again if asked.
“What it has been about is companies that simply do not want to be held accountable and, because of the influence of big money in Washington, are corrupting the system and trying to bend it to their will, and their will is to be unable to be held accountable,” he said.
“There is no other industry, that acts with such arrogance, indifference and a lack of humility and sociopathic greed at the expense of people.”
As well as Ahmed, the state department has barred the former EU commissioner Thierry Breton. It accused the five people of leading “organised efforts to coerce American platforms to censor, demonetise and suppress American viewpoints they oppose”.
Sarah Rogers, an official at the state department, posted on X: “Our message is clear: if you spend your career fomenting censorship of American speech, you’re unwelcome on American soil.”
The sanctions are being seen as the latest attack on European regulations that target hate speech and misinformation. Campaigners in the UK have said the British government could be targeted further if the Trump administration steps up its attacks on tech regulation.
Ahmed, who began his career working with Labour politicians in Westminster, said he had not yet formally received any notification from the US government, but that he believed its case against him was unfounded: “I’m very confident that our first amendment rights will be upheld by the court.”
The next court hearing, due on Monday, is expected to confirm the protective order that prevents the US government from detaining him, said Ahmed, who spent…
Source link
Disclaimer
We strive to uphold the highest ethical standards in all of our reporting and coverage. We blogs.grocliq.com want to be transparent with our readers about any potential conflicts of interest that may arise in our work. It’s possible that some of the investors we feature may have connections to other businesses, including competitors or companies we write about. However, we want to assure our readers that this will not have any impact on the integrity or impartiality of our reporting. We are committed to delivering accurate, unbiased news and information to our audience, and we will continue to uphold our ethics and principles in all of our work. Thank you for your trust and support.
Website Upgradation is going on for any glitch kindly connect at [email protected]
