A prominent British campaigner against online hate has initiated a legal challenge to fight his deportation from the United States, after being hit with sanctions by the administration of President Donald Trump.
Legal Battle Over "Unlawful Deportation"
Imran Ahmed, the founder and chief executive of the Centre for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), has filed a complaint in the Southern District of New York to prevent US authorities from arresting and expelling him. The action names US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Undersecretary Sarah Rogers, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem.
Ahmed, who lives in Washington DC with his American wife and daughter, stated he was forced to spend Christmas fighting the move rather than with his family. "I am proud to call the United States my home," he said. "My life’s work is to protect children from the dangers of unregulated social media and AI and fight the spread of antisemitism online."
His lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, argued the State Department's actions were "unjustified and blatantly unconstitutional," adding it was "hard to think of anything more un-American" than the situation.
US Accusations of "Extraterritorial Censorship"
The sanctions were announced on Thursday 25 December 2025. US officials accused Ahmed and others of leading organised efforts to coerce American social media platforms into censoring viewpoints they oppose. Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the actions of the sanctioned individuals as "egregious acts of extraterritorial censorship."
Undersecretary Sarah Rogers claimed Ahmed was a "key collaborator" with the previous Biden administration in efforts to "weaponise the government" against US citizens. She cited the CCDH's calls for platforms to de-platform anti-vaccine campaigners and its support for laws like the UK's Online Safety Act as evidence of a drive to "expand censorship" globally.
The Trump administration's campaign uses immigration law to target foreign individuals it believes exert undue influence over online speech in the US.
Wider Sanctions and Political Backlash
The travel bans also affected other European figures involved in disinformation research and digital regulation. These include:
- Clare Melford, an Oxford graduate who leads the UK-based Global Disinformation Index (GDI).
- Thierry Breton, the former EU commissioner for the internal market.
- Josephine Ballon and Anna-Lena von Hodenberg, leaders of the German organisation HateAid.
A GDI spokesperson condemned the sanctions on Melford as "an authoritarian attack on free speech and an egregious act of government censorship."
In the UK, the sanctions have drawn criticism from political figures. Dame Chi Onwurah, Labour chair of the Commons Science, Innovation and Technology Committee, said banning Ahmed would not shut down the debate on harmful online content. The Liberal Democrats' foreign affairs spokesman, Calum Miller, called the sanctions "an attack on free speech" and "bullying tactics."
The UK Government, while acknowledging every country's right to set its own visa rules, stated it supports "laws and institutions which are working to keep the internet free from the most harmful content."
Imran Ahmed has close links to the UK Labour Party, having previously advised Hilary Benn. Sir Keir Starmer's chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, was also a director at the CCDH until April 2020.
The Trump administration has signalled that further action, potentially targeting serving politicians or officials, could follow.
