A US judge has temporarily blocked the detention of British social media campaigner Imran Ahmed, who took legal action against the US government after his visa was revoked.
The Centre for Countering Digital Hate’s founder was among five people denied US visas after the Trump administration accused them of seeking to “coerce” tech platforms into censoring free speech.
The move drew a backlash from European leaders defending the work of organisations that monitor online content.
Mr Ahmed, a US permanent resident, had warned that being detained and possibly deported would tear him away from his American wife and child. Praising the judge’s decision, he told BBC News he would not be “bullied”.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio had said online that the individuals were blocked over concerns that they had organised efforts to pressure US platforms to censor and “punish American viewpoints they oppose“.
Mr Ahmed filed a legal complaint on Wednesday against officials, including Rubio and US Attorney General Pamela Bondi, over the decision to have him sanctioned.
In court documents seen by the BBC, US District Judge Vernon S Broderick said on Thursday he had granted Mr Ahmed’s request for a temporary restraining order.
The judge also temporarily blocked the officials from detaining Mr Ahmed without the chance for his case to be heard.
The BBC has contacted the State Department and White House for comment.
When approached by the AFP news agency, a state department spokesperson was quoted as saying: “The Supreme Court and Congress have repeatedly made clear: the United States is under no obligation to allow foreign aliens to come to our country or reside here.”
Mr Ahmed said, “I will not be bullied away from my life’s work of fighting to keep children safe from social media’s harm and stopping antisemitism online.”
His lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, said the speed of the judge’s decision was telling.
“The federal government can’t deport a green card holder like Imran Ahmed, with a wife and young child who are American, simply because it doesn’t like what he has to say,” she said.
In 2023, Mr Ahmed’s centre was sued by Elon Musk’s social media company after it reported on a rise in hate speech on the platform since the billionaire’s takeover of the firm, now called X.
The case was dismissed, but an appeal is pending.
Speaking to the BBC News Channel on Friday evening, Mr Ahmed said: “We were sued by Elon Musk a couple of years ago, unsuccessfully; a court found that he was trying to impinge on our First Amendment rights to free speech by using law to try and silence our accountability work.”
Mr Ahmed said the last few days have been “rather confusing”.
He said the Centre for Countering Digital Hate “has worked with administrations both Republican and Democrat” and feels he is now being targeted because the organisations his group researches do not like being called out.
“This does seem to be… perhaps even an error, goaded on by some of the tech companies, the social media platforms, the AI platforms that the Centre for Countering Digital Hate studies and holds accountable.
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