UK campaigner targeted by Trump accuses tech giants of ‘sociopathic greed’ | UK news
A British anti-disinformation campaigner, told by the Trump administration that he faces deportation from the United States, said he was being targeted by arrogant and “sociopathic” tech companies for trying to hold them to account.
Imran Ahmed, executive director of the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), is among five European nationals barred from the United States by the State Department after being accused of seeking to pressure technology companies to censor or suppress American viewpoints.
Ahmed lives legally in Washington DC with his American wife and daughter, meaning he faces deportation. On Thursday evening, a court granted him a temporary restraining order to block any attempt to remove him from the United States or detain him.
Ahmed told the Guardian he believed he had been singled out for his work pushing for greater accountability and transparency for social media and AI companies, leading Elon Musk’s X to unsuccessfully sue the CCDH.
Ahmed, who is a friend of Morgan McSweeney, Keir Starmer’s chief of staff, said it was another attempt to deflect accountability and transparency.
“It was never about politics,” he said, adding that his organization worked successfully with the first Trump administration and would do so again if asked.
“These are companies that just don’t want to be held accountable and because of the influence of big money in Washington are corrupting the system and trying to bend it to their will, and their will is that they can’t be held accountable,” he said.
“There is no other industry that acts with such arrogance, indifference, lack of humility and sociopathic greed at the expense of people.”
In addition to Ahmed, the State Department excluded former European Commissioner Thierry Breton. It accuses the five of leading “organized efforts to coerce American platforms to censor, demonetize, and remove American viewpoints to which they oppose.”
State Department official Sarah Rogers posted on X: “Our message is clear: If you spend your career fomenting censorship of American speech, you are not welcome on American soil. »
The sanctions are seen as the latest attack on EU regulations that target hate speech and disinformation. In the United Kingdom, activists said the British government could be further targeted if the Trump administration steps up its attacks on technology regulation.
Ahmed, who began his career working with Labor politicians at Westminster, said he had yet to receive any formal notification from the US government and believed the accusations against him were unfounded. “I am confident that our First Amendment rights will be respected by the court,” he said.
The next court hearing, scheduled for Monday, is expected to uphold the protective order that prevents the U.S. government from detaining him, said Ahmed, who spent Christmas away from his wife and infant daughter amid the legal battle.
He said it was “a rational thing for us to do, given that in every other case so far where someone has had their green card revoked in recent months, they have been arrested and detained and often taken hundreds or thousands of miles away from their friends, family and support networks.” »
The CCDH has already angered Musk over reports of the rise of racist, anti-Semitic and extremist content on X since he took power. Musk unsuccessfully tried to sue the CCDH last year before labeling it a “criminal organization.”
More recently, CCDH released a report warning of harmful responses produced by the latest version of ChatGPT to questions about suicide, self-harm and eating disorders.
“We have seen that social media and AI companies are increasingly under pressure from organizations like mine,” Ahmed said. “No one likes to be exposed as a liar or a hypocrite, but they call their friends in government or their pitbull trial lawyers and start filing lawsuits.”
Ahmed said it was particularly shocking to be targeted given that hate speech and misinformation was increasingly a bipartisan issue, raised as a concern by some Republican politicians as well as Democrats.
He said he was nevertheless prepared to respond quickly with a legal response when he learned the news. “When you’re going up against the biggest companies in the world and you’ve had the experience we’ve had, being sued by the richest man in the world, you immediately dissociate and compartmentalize.”
There has already been a cost, he says. “Nothing I’m going through compares to the parents I’m sitting with who have lost their children,” Ahmed said. “I choose to take on the biggest corporations in the world, to hold them accountable, to speak truth to power. There is a price for that. My family understands that.
“The only time I felt sad was last night when my wife told me our child said his sixth word, and then I cried a little.”
Asked if he thought British politicians should continue to use X, Ahmed told PA: “Politicians have to make decisions for themselves, but every time they post about »
Quick guide
Contact us about this story
To show
The best public interest journalism relies on first-hand accounts from knowledgeable people.
If you have something to share about this, you can contact us confidentially using the following methods.
Secure messaging in the Guardian app
The Guardian app has a tool for sending story tips. Messages are end-to-end encrypted and concealed as part of the routine activity performed by each Guardian mobile application. This prevents an observer from knowing that you are communicating with us, let alone what is being said.
If you don’t already have the Guardian app, download it (iOS/Android) and navigate to the menu. Select “Secure Messaging”.
SecureDrop, instant messaging, email, telephone and mail
If you can use the Tor network safely without being observed or monitored, you can send messages and documents to the Guardian through our SecureDrop platform.
Finally, our guide at theguardian.com/tips lists several ways to contact us securely and discusses the pros and cons of each.
