On May 27, 2025, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a groundbreaking visa restriction policy aimed at foreign officials and individuals complicit in censoring the free speech of American citizens, particularly online. Secretary Rubio declared, “Free speech is essential to the American way of life — a birthright over which foreign governments have no authority,” targeting those who pressure U.S. tech companies to suppress protected expression or issue threats against Americans for their social media activity. While this policy signals a robust defense of First Amendment rights, it must now be applied to a pressing case: the systematic suppression of Ethiopian-American journalists of Amhara descent by YouTube and Facebook, allegedly at the behest of the Ethiopian government and its U.S.-based supporters.
The Amhara Media Council (AMC), a U.S.-based organization advocating for press freedom, reports that many of its members, Ethiopian-Americans from the Amhara ethnic group, face relentless censorship on major tech platforms. These journalists, operating primarily in the United States, use YouTube and Facebook to expose human rights abuses, military operations, and corruption tied to the ongoing civil conflict in Ethiopia’s Amhara region. However, their channels and pages are frequently flagged, demonetized, suspended, or outright terminated. The AMC alleges that these actions stem from coordinated demands by the Ethiopian government and its supporters in the U.S., who exploit content moderation policies to silence dissenting voices.
This censorship aligns with broader repression in Ethiopia, where Amhara journalists like Meskerem Abera and Abay Zewdu have been imprisoned for covering the conflict. In the U.S., Ethiopian-American media organizations such as Mereja TV, Ghion Multimedia and others face digital exile as their accounts are throttled or removed after posting content critical of the Ethiopian government. Such actions not only violate their free speech rights but also deprive the public of critical information about a conflict marked by alleged atrocities. The collaboration between tech giants and a foreign government to target U.S. citizens raises serious questions about corporate complicity in authoritarian censorship.
The implications are profound. By suppressing these voices, YouTube and Facebook undermine the ability of Ethiopian-Americans to advocate for their community, which faces persecution in Ethiopia. This creates a chilling effect, discouraging journalists from reporting on sensitive issues and eroding the role of independent media as a check on power. Moreover, it risks amplifying propaganda by limiting access to unbiased reporting, a concern Secretary Rubio himself highlighted when criticizing foreign interference in U.S. speech.
Secretary Rubio’s new policy offers a framework to address this injustice. His commitment to barring foreign actors who undermine American free speech from U.S. visas must extend to investigating the Ethiopian government’s influence over YouTube and Facebook. We urge the Secretary to launch a thorough probe into these platforms’ content moderation practices, specifically their collaboration with Ethiopian authorities and their U.S.-based proxies. This investigation should examine how and why Ethiopian-American journalists are being targeted, ensuring accountability for any violations of their constitutional rights.
The United States has a duty to protect its citizens from foreign-driven censorship, especially when it involves U.S.-based companies. As Secretary Rubio stated, “Foreigners who work to undermine the rights of Americans should not enjoy the privilege of traveling to our country.” We call on him to uphold this principle by safeguarding the voices of Ethiopian-American journalists and holding tech giants accountable for their role in this alarming suppression.
Leave a Reply