Marco Rubio Sure Has a Weird Definition of Free Speech

On Wednesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that foreign citizens who engage in online censorship of Americans’ speech will be barred from obtaining visas to travel to the U.S.

The announcement is the latest in a series of muddled moves on free speech, with the Trump administration gleefully attempting to punish individuals for their speech all while making overtures at protecting Americans from censorship.

“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,” Rubio said in a Wednesday press release. “It is unacceptable for foreign officials to issue or threaten arrest warrants on U.S. citizens or U.S. residents for social media posts on American platforms while physically present 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’s announcement is relatively vague, though Rubio noted that the policy is aimed at foreign officials who attempt to force U.S.-based tech companies to censor speech that would be First Amendment-protected in America. Foreign censorship—especially in Europe—has been a frequent concern for the Trump administration. In February, Vice President J.D. Vance highlighted laws in several European countries that levy harsh criminal penalties for speech acts like anti-abortion protests or offensive social media posts.

Of course, this latest announcement is no indication that the Trump administration really cares about protecting the right to free speech on American soil. So far, the Trump administration has gleefully targeted visa holders for their speech, detaining international students and university employees for everything from attending a pro-Palestine demonstration to penning an anti-Israel op-ed. Just last week, Rubio announced that visa interviews for prospective international students would temporarily pause while the State Department figures out how to conduct greater scrutiny of students’ social media postings. 

This hypocrisy is seemingly lost in Rubio. “Foreigners who work to undermine the rights of Americans should not enjoy the privilege of traveling to our country,” he wrote on X this week. “Whether in Latin America, Europe, or elsewhere, the days of passive treatment for those who work to undermine the rights of Americans are over.”

The Trump administration is more than happy to participate in viewpoint discrimination—and censorship of private news organizations that use disfavored terminology or colleges that fail to capitulate to absurd demands—as long as it benefits their interests.

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