US judge blocks Trump administration policy targeting visas of social media researchers

A US federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from enforcing a policy that could deny visas or deport foreign nationals involved in research on online disinformation and hate speech. The ruling came after a technology research coalition challenged the policy, arguing that it violated constitutional free speech protections.

Chief US District Judge James Boasberg ruled that the policy likely places an unlawful burden on the speech of non-citizen researchers working in the United States. According to the court, as reported by Reuters, researchers could reasonably believe that their immigration status was at risk simply because of their work on content moderation and online misinformation.

Why the court blocked the policy

The case was brought by the Coalition for Independent Technology Research, which accused the US State Department of using immigration measures to discourage research and advocacy related to online content moderation. The group argued that the policy amounted to a broad campaign targeting researchers and anti-disinformation advocates.


In his order, Boasberg said the administration appeared to treat research and advocacy supporting stronger content moderation as grounds for visa denial, exclusion or removal. He found that such an approach was likely inconsistent with the free speech protections guaranteed under the First Amendment.

Carrie DeCell, a lawyer representing the coalition at the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, welcomed the ruling.

“This policy punishes researchers for work the public needs and the First Amendment protects.”

The US State Department did not immediately comment on the ruling.

The Trump administration has made what it describes as protecting free speech online a key part of its foreign policy. It has argued that conservative voices have faced censorship on social media platforms.

In May, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a visa restriction policy targeting foreign nationals whom the administration considers "complicit in censoring Americans." Rubio said some foreign officials had taken censorship actions against US technology companies and citizens despite having no authority to do so.

The administration later imposed visa restrictions on five Europeans, including a former European Union commissioner and anti-disinformation campaigners. The move followed European Union action against social media platform X under the Digital Services Act, which aims to tackle illegal content, hate speech, misinformation and disinformation online.

Among those affected were Imran Ahmed, chief executive of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, and Clare Melford, co-founder of the Global Disinformation Index. Both organisations are members of the Coalition for Independent Technology Research, according to the lawsuit.

The judge's order prevents the administration from enforcing the challenged policy while the legal case continues.

(With inputs from Reuters)