Trump administration seeks to expel hate speech researcher previously sued by X

A federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration from arresting or deporting Imran Ahmed, CEO of Digital Hate Center (CCDH).

The New York Times reports that Ahmed is one of five researchers and regulators whose circumvent online abuse and misinformation They have drawn the ire of the US State Department, which declared this week that they were excluded from US territory.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio describes the targeted individuals as “radical activists and armed NGOs” who have “led organized efforts to coerce U.S. platforms to censor, demonetize, and remove U.S. viewpoints they oppose.”

Although Ahmed was born in the United Kingdom, he has a U.S. green card, resides in the United States, and has an American wife and child.

Ahmed defended his work in an interview with PBS Newsdescribing the government’s decision as “another example of these companies [such as Meta, OpenAI, and Elon Musk’s X] who tried to evade responsibility by using their big money to try to influence policy.”

A lawsuit filed by X against the CCDH was fired last yearbut an appeal is in progress.