The U.S. State Department, under Secretary of State Marco Rubio, has imposed visa restrictions barring five Europeans from entering the United States, accusing them of leading efforts to pressure American tech firms to censor or suppress American viewpoints online.

The move announced Tuesday, is part of a broader President Trump administration campaign against foreign influence over online speech, using immigration law rather than platform regulations or sanctions.

The targeted individuals include former European Union Commissioner Thierry Breton, leaders of German anti-hate group HateAid, and heads of organizations focused on so-called disinformation and digital hate

Breton, former EU Commissioner for Digital Affairs, was sanctioned for his role in enforcing the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), which has clashed with tech companies like Elon Musk’s X. He previously sent a letter to Musk demanding compliance with the DSA ahead of a Trump interview.

Imran Ahmed, CEO of the Centre for Countering Digital Hate, was targeted for his organization’s 2022 “Disinformation Dozen” report, which highlighted anti-vaccine figures including Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Clare Melford, CEO of the Global Disinformation Index, was sanctioned for allegedly using U.S. taxpayer funds to advocate for censorship and blacklisting of American speech.

Josephine Ballon and Anna-Lena von Hodenberg, leaders of HateAid, were sanctioned for their ostensible work combating so-called online hate and disinformation, with the group calling the U.S. actions an “authoritarian attack on free speech.”

The State Department cited these individuals as part of a “global censorship-industrial complex” that advances foreign government censorship campaigns targeting American speakers and companies.

The sanctions are based on a visa policy announced in May 2025 that restricts entry for foreigners deemed responsible for censorship of protected speech in the U.S. The Department of Homeland Security may initiate removal proceedings against those already in the country.

The move follows a broader trend of U.S. officials, including Vice President JD Vance, criticizing European nations for censorship, particularly over content related to the Covid-19 lab leak theory and other political topics.

The EU has not yet responded publicly to the sanctions, but European officials have expressed concern over the U.S. actions undermining European sovereignty.

The U.S. has also previously targeted visitors from certain African and Middle Eastern countries and the Palestinian Authority with similar visa restrictions.

China has completed a prototype extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machine in a high-security Shenzhen laboratory, marking a major milestone in its drive for semiconductor independence through a state-led 'Manhattan Project-style' initiative.

The machine, operational since early 2025 and now undergoing testing, was built by a team of former ASML(Advanced Semiconductor Materials Lithography) Holding engineers like Lin Nan, who filed key patents. They reverse-engineered the Dutch company’s technology, using parts from older ASML systems and secondary markets to circumvent Western export controls.

While the prototype successfully generates EUV light, it has not yet produced functional chips, with analysts estimating a realistic timeline for working chip production between 2030 and 2035, despite an official government target of 2028.

The project, launched as a six-year national effort under President Xi Jinping’s strategic priorities, is coordinated by Huawei and overseen by Ding Xuexiang, a close confidant of Xi and head of the Central Science and Technology Commission.

Former ASML engineers were recruited with substantial incentives, including signing bonuses of up to $700,000, and worked under aliases with false identification cards to maintain secrecy.

The prototype occupies nearly an entire factory floor and is operated within a highly isolated, secure compound where staff often sleep on-site, with strict communication restrictions and surveillance.

Despite ASML CEO Christophe Fouquet’s public statements in 2024 and 2025 that China would need "many, many years" to develop EUV capability, the existence of the prototype suggests Beijing’s timeline may be accelerating significantly.

While the Chinese machine’s light generation is confirmed, major technical hurdles remain, particularly in replicating the precision optical systems—such as specialized mirrors from Germany’s Zeiss—that are critical for high-volume, reliable chip manufacturing.

The breakthrough challenges long-standing U.S.-led export controls that have barred China from acquiring advanced EUV systems since 2018, with the Biden administration expanding restrictions in 2022.

The ultimate goal, as stated by sources, is to produce advanced chips on entirely China-made machines and to fully remove U.S. influence from its semiconductor supply chains.

Advanced chip manufacturing machine generates extreme ultraviolet light to etch tiny circuits for AI, smartphones, and military systems—tech once monopolized by ASML