UK social media campaigners among five denied US visas15 hours agoShareSaveGeorge WrightShareSaveAlamyClare Melford and Imran Ahmed, who have campaigned against hate speech and disinformation online, have been banned from entering the USTwo British campaigners are among five people denied US visas after the State Department accused them of seeking to "coerce" American tech platforms into suppressing free speech.Imran Ahmed, an ex-Labour adviser who now heads the Centre for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), and Clare Melford, CEO of the Global Disinformation Index (GDI), were labelled "radical activists" by the Trump administration and banned from entering the US.A French ex-EU commissioner and two senior figures at a Germany-based anti-online hate group were also denied visas.European leaders have condemned the measures, while the UK government said it is "fully committed" to upholding free speech."While every country has the right to set its own visa rules, we support the laws and institutions which are working to keep the internet free from the most harmful content," a UK government spokesperson said.French President Emmanuel Macron described the travel ban as "intimidation and coercion aimed at undermining European digital sovereignty" while the EU's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said it was "unacceptable and an attempt to challenge our sovereignty".The US billed the measures as a response to people and organisations that have campaigned for restrictions on American tech