Chief US District Judge James Boasberg has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from using a visa policy against foreign nationals it says helped censor Americans online. The ruling is significant because it finds the policy likely violated First Amendment free-speech protections by potentially penalising people for their views and work on content moderation, rather than for exercising foreign government power.

The policy, announced by Secretary of State Marco Rubio in May 2025, was intended to deny or revoke visas for people deemed responsible for suppressing protected expression on US platforms. A coalition of technology researchers and online-safety advocates challenged its expanded use against private researchers, fact-checkers and trust-and-safety workers; Boasberg concluded that it could chill their speech and advocacy while the case proceeds.