Australia's controversial eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant could be blocked from entering the United States — the country of her birth — under a sweeping new visa restriction targeting foreign officials involved in censorship of American citizens or tech companies.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio this week unveiled the measure, declaring it applies to any foreign national responsible “for censorship of protected expression in the United States.” The policy also extends to family members of such officials.

Is Australia's eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, serving the interests of the Australian public or other global entities, including the censorship industrial complex?

Prior to being recruited by the Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull, the former Twitter and Microsoft… pic.twitter.com/mdIwJmGtty

— Rukshan Fernando (@therealrukshan) February 19, 2024

“It is unacceptable for foreign officials to issue or threaten arrest warrants on U.S. citizens or U.S. residents for social media posts on American platforms while physically present on U.S. soil,” Rubio said.

“It is similarly unacceptable for foreign officials to demand that American tech platforms adopt global content moderation policies or engage in censorship activity that reaches beyond their authority and into the United States.

“We will not tolerate encroachments upon American sovereignty, especially when such encroachments undermine the exercise of our fundamental right to free speech.”

The move comes amid rising tensions over Australia’s online content laws. In April, Inman Grant ordered platform X to geoblock a post by Canadian activist Chris Elston, known for protesting against puberty blockers for minors. The post was deemed by the commissioner to be “menacing, harassing, offensive, and likely to cause serious harm to an Australian.” The content remains blocked in Australia pending a legal tribunal decision.

For too long, Americans have been fined, harassed, and even charged by foreign authorities for exercising their free speech rights.

Today, I am announcing a new visa restriction policy that will apply to foreign officials and persons who are complicit in censoring Americans.…

— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) May 28, 2025

The U.S. State Department has sharply criticised the action. Earlier this month, its Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor said it was “deeply concerned about efforts by governments to coerce American tech companies into targeting individuals for censorship.”

“Examples of this conduct are troublingly numerous. EU Commissioner Thierry Breton threatened X for hosting political speech; Türkiye fined Meta for refusing to restrict content about protests, and Australia required X to remove a post criticising an individual for promoting gender ideology,” the bureau stated.

Applies only to censor of Americans but potentially crimps some of the extreme overreach of our eSafety commissioner, the so called e-Karen (Julie Inman Grant). pic.twitter.com/K754764F5S

— Dr David Adler (@DrDavidAdler1) May 28, 2025

Rubio underscored the U.S. stance in a post on X, writing: “Free speech is essential to the American way of life – a birthright over which foreign governments have no authority.”

“Foreigners who work to undermine the rights of Americans should not enjoy the privilege of travelling to our country,” he added.

Australia's eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, has to go!

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Australia's eSafety Commissioner has to go! We are calling upon the government to immediately remove Julie Inman Grant from her position.

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