Foreign officials who censor social media postings by Americans will be denied US visas, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday.
Mr Rubio said the decision is a way of protecting free speech guaranteed by the US Constitution, but it also comes as he draws scrutiny for his own attempts to regulate what some people in the country are allowed to say about the war in Gaza.
He said he was acting against foreign officials who have taken “flagrant censorship actions” against US technology companies and citizens.
“I am announcing a new visa restriction policy that will apply to foreign nationals who are responsible for censorship of protected expression in the United States,” Mr Rubio said in a statement.
“It is unacceptable for foreign officials to issue or threaten arrest warrants on US citizens or US residents for social media posts on American platforms while physically present on US soil."
Mr Rubio's State Department has revoked the visas of hundreds of students who protested against Israel and the Gaza war last year, claiming the pro-Palestinian protesters are anti-Semitic or “lunatics”. On Tuesday, the State Department paused all new foreign student interviews at US embassies and consulates as it weighs requiring the vetting of applicants' social media histories.
Among those targeted by the Trump administration are Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish doctoral student at Tufts University who last year co-wrote an opinion piece in a student newspaper criticising Tufts's response to calls to divest from companies with Israel ties and to “acknowledge the Palestinian genocide”.
Wednesday's action comes after Mr Rubio last week told politicians that he was weighing sanctions against Brazilian Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes. The judge last year ordered the suspension of X in Brazil during a dispute over accounts that allegedly spread misinformation.
X's owner, Elon Musk, was President Donald Trump's leading financial donor last year and worked alongside him this year, slashing government jobs.
The Trump administration has also criticised allies Britain and Germany for clamping down on what they consider hate speech.
