*

Restrictions on visiting US an apparent escalation by

Washington

*

Rubio says arrest warrants for social media posts

'unacceptable'

*

EU officials defend content moderation as fighting hate

speech,

child porn

(Adds background about Trump administration push on censorship,

paragraphs 2, 7-13)

By Simon Lewis

WASHINGTON, May 28 (Reuters) -

The

U.S. will impose visa bans on foreign nationals it deems to

be censoring Americans, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on

Wednesday, and he suggested the new policy could target

officials regulating U.S. tech companies.

Rubio did not name any specific instances of censorship.

But U.S. tech companies and the Trump administration have

challenged U.S. allies in Europe, alleging censorship of social

media platforms, but restricting officials from visiting the

U.S. appeared to be an escalation by Washington.

Rubio said in a statement that a new visa restriction policy

would apply to foreign nationals responsible for censorship of

protected expression in the U.S. He said it was unacceptable for

foreign officials to issue or threaten arrest warrants for

social media posts made on U.S. soil.

"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 said.

Some 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," Rubio said.

U.S. social media companies like Facebook and Instagram

parent Meta have said an EU content moderation law, the

Digital Services Act, amounts to

censorship of their platforms

. The Trump-appointed chairman of the U.S. Federal

Communications Commission in March warned the EU Digital

Services Act excessively restricts freedom of expression.

EU officials have defended the law, which is meant to

make the online environment safer and fairer by compelling tech

giants to do more to tackle illegal content including hate

speech and child sexual abuse material.

'SHARED VALUES'

In a social media post on Wednesday, Rubio added,

"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 did not name specific countries or individuals

that would be targeted. Brazil has

clashed

with the platform X, owned by Trump ally Elon Musk, over

compliance with orders to take down accounts accused of

spreading misinformation. The Trump administration has

repeatedly called out European nations for supposed censorship

of online content.

Vice President JD Vance denounced content moderation

while in Paris in February, calling it "authoritarian

censorship."

In April, Rubio

shut down

a State Department office that had sought to counter

foreign disinformation, accusing it of censorship and wasting

U.S. taxpayer money.

Announcing that move, he said freedom of expression was

vital to U.S. ties with Western European nations, and warned

that those who threaten free speech "are attacking one of the

pillars of our shared interest, our shared culture, our shared

values."

Free speech issues would be raised in diplomacy with the

EU and had been raised separately with Britain's prime minister,

Rubio added.