US judge blocks move to detain British social media campaigner

A US judge has blocked a move to detain a British social media campaigner who has been accused of threatening free speech by President Donald Trump.

Imran Ahmed, the Center for Countering Digital Hate founder, was sanctioned alongside several others by the US State Department over allegations they were trying to 'coerce American platforms to punish American viewpoints they oppose'.

Mr Ahmed had warned that any move to detain and even deport him would lead to his separation from his American wife and child.

He filed a legal complaint this week against the sanction, which could have seen his visa, enabling him to remain in the country, revoked.

And on Thursday, US District Judge Vernon S Broderick granted Mr Ahmed's request for a temporary restraining order, as well as temporarily blocking officials from detaining Mr Ahmed without the chance for his case to be heard.

After the ruling, Mr Ahmed told the BBC: 'I will not be bullied away from my life's work of fighting to keep children safe from social media's harm and stopping antisemitism online.' 

He was sanctioned alongside Clare Melford, of the Global Disinformation Index (GDI), and Thierry Breton, the European Commission's former top tech regulator, who was a key figure behind the EU's Digital Services Act.

In a series of posts on X, Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy Sarah B Rogers accused Mr Ahmed, Ms Melford, Mr Breton, and two figures in a German anti-disinformation organisation of engaging in 'extraterrestrial censorship of Americans'. 

She wrote: 'For far too long, ideologues in Europe have led organized efforts to coerce American platforms to punish American viewpoints they oppose. 

'The Trump Administration will no longer tolerate these egregious acts of extraterritorial censorship.' 

The CCDH, a US-registered non-profit, has repeatedly criticised high-profile figures, including Elon Musk and US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, accusing them of failing to curb or actively amplifying online misinformation. 

On Christmas Eve, lawyers representing Mr Ahmed lodged a legal challenge against the US government in the Southern District of New York. 

Mr Ahmed, who lives in Washington DC with his American wife and young child, contested the move that could have seen him removed from the US. 

In the 31-page filing, his legal team argued that there was no lawful basis for his expulsion. 

The complaint alleged that the government's actions amount to retaliation for CCDH's research and public reporting.  

'Rather than conceal its retaliatory intent, the federal government made clear that Mr Ahmed is being 'sanctioned' for the work carried out by his organisation,' the document stated.

It warned that Mr Ahmed now faces 'the imminent prospect of unconstitutional arrest, punitive detention and expulsion' for exercising rights protected under the First Amendment.

Mr Ahmed once worked as a political adviser to the Labour Party, serving MPs Andy Slaughter and then-shadow foreign secretary Hilary Benn, and led communications for Angela Eagle's 2016 leadership bid.

He founded the Centre for Countering Digital Hate in 2018 as a response to what he saw as a rise of antisemitism on the left and an increase in political violence, including the murder of his colleague, Jo Cox MP, by a man partly radicalised online.

Companies House records show Morgan McSweeney, Sir Keir Starmer's chief of staff in Downing Street, served as a director from its inception until April 6 2020, two days after Sir Keir became leader of Labour.

In 2021, it published its 'Disinformation Dozen' report naming 12 people it said were responsible for around two thirds of vaccine misinformation during the pandemic, including US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

In 2023, billionaire Musk launched a lawsuit against Mr Ahmed's CCDH after it published a report claiming X had become a breeding ground for hate speech and disinformation; the case was dismissed by a federal judge in March 2024.

Reacting to news of the block, Mr Ahmed's lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, said: 'The federal government can't deport a green card holder like Imran Ahmed, with a wife and young child who are American, simply because it doesn't like what he has to say.'