Visa ban for European critics of online harm is first shot in US free speech war
For Maga politicians, European tech regulation hits hard in two areas: at the economic interests of Silicon Valley and at their view of free speech.The action against five Europeans who are taking on harmful content and the platforms that host it has had an inevitable feel to it, given the increasingly vociferous reactions to the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) and the UK’s Online Safety Act (OSA).Both pieces of legislation require social media firms to protect users or face the threat of sizeable fines.Indeed, Elon Musk’s X has been fined €120m (£105m) this month for breaching the DSA.These acts are key examples of what US Republicans see as an anti-free speech culture on the other side of the Atlantic.
Ofcom, the UK’s communications regulator charged with overseeing the OSA, has not been affected by the visa bans announced on Christmas Eve, but there is an implicit threat in the air,One of those targeted by the move is the former European industry commissioner Thierry Breton, an architect of the DSA,The message is clear: watch out regulators,Trump allies have also targeted Imran Ahmed’s Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), a US-UK organisation which campaigns against online hate speech,Ahmed was one of the people who received a visa ban on Wednesday.
CCDH was the target of an Elon Musk lawsuit in 2023 but the claim was thrown out by a judge last year who said the legal challenge, which focused on allegations that CCDH accessed data on X illegally, was in fact “about punishing the defendants for their speech”.In a post on X, Musk, a self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist”, described CCDH as a “truly evil organization that just wants to destroy the first amendment under the guise of doing good!”The UK’s OSA remains a subject of White House ire.JD Vance, the US vice-president, has said free speech in the UK is “in retreat”.In July, Jim Jordan, a Republican congressman who has criticised the act, led a delegation of US politicians to discuss the legislation with the Labour government and Ofcom.Ofcom is aware it could be in the crosshairs.
In May, the state department announced it will block entry to the US to “foreign nationals who censor Americans”,The watchdog has said it is seeking “clarity” on the planned visa restrictions,The EU and UK have only just got going on implementing their acts and, as the visa ban for Breton shows, opposition is building,In October, Ofcom fined the online forum 4chan £20,000 for breaching the act by failing to respond to a request for a risk assessment,Emboldened by domestic opposition to the OSA, 4Chan is suing Ofcom in the US, claiming its enforcement of the OSA violates Americans’ right to freedom of speech.
The UK government has said it won’t back down on the OSA, while the X fine signals the EU is determined to enforce its own legislation.There is also an effective non-profit ecosystem – in Europe and the US – campaigning for online safety.These visa bans are just the latest shot in what will be a long-running battle under the Trump administration.
Stokes calls for ‘empathy’ for England players and pledges support for Duckett
Ben Stokes has called for the public and the media to show “empathy” towards his embattled England players. It comes as their Ashes campaign threatens to fully unravel in response to a guaranteed series defeat and allegations of excessive drinking during a mid-tour break in Noosa.Sitting 3-0 down going into the Boxing Day Test, England have been hit by reports that their downtime in between the defeats in Brisbane and Adelaide was akin to a “stag do”. The emergence of footage appearing to show Ben Duckett drunk and slurring his words on a night out has heightened things.The video, taken by an English traveller called “Sam” and posted on social media, has not cost Duckett his place albeit England have made changes to their XI for the fourth Test
Five big Boxing Day Ashes Tests: Botham, Pietersen and Warne
In the first session Australia set off at a lick, surging to 102 without loss with David Warner’s 83 the crux. Warner would go on to notch his 21st Test century, but not without a spot of drama when one run shy. Pity poor Tom Curran, who thought he had claimed Warner on 99 after the batter had spooned to mid-on and the eager hands of Stuart Broad. However, a replay revealed the England bowler had overstepped and his maiden Test wicket was snatched from his grasp.That moment of torment typified England’s sorry Ashes campaign, though this fourth Test would end in a draw thanks to Alastair Cook’s stalwart 244
Trump loomed over sport like never before in 2025. Next year he will take even more
From the Super Bowl to UFC cards to the US Open to the Ryder Cup, the US president has turned sport into his own personal stage. There’s more to comeConsidering he’s the self-declared hardest working president to ever hold the office, Donald Trump has spent a remarkable amount of the past year away from it. In 2025, he loomed over sports like no American politician before him, his visits to stadiums and arenas and golf courses and race tracks so frequent they began to feel like part of the job. But if Trump’s presence on the sporting scene has seemed hard to escape, gird yourselves for 2026, when the American presidency no longer merely intersects with sport but threatens to subsume it. The World Cup is on the way, the Olympics are right behind it, a UFC card is coming to the White House lawn (not a joke) and the commander-in-chief’s well-documented fondness for jumbotrons is becoming less of a habit than a dependency
Alex Samara: how a 30-year-old Englishman became an WNBA head coach
As an aspiring basketball coach in his teens and early 20s, Alex Sarama was often met with snickers when he talked about the game he loved. For the British-born Sarama, who on 28 October was named the head coach of the WNBA’s newest expansion team, the Portland Fire, people doubted him before he even put two sentences together.“There was a lot of skepticism,” he tells the Guardian. “A lot of coaches heard the accent and they’d say straight away this Alex guy can’t coach!”Sarama, however, would not be dissuaded.“So, it’s been great!” he says with a laugh
Scott Boland reveals uncomfortable truth about standing up to England during Ashes
The unorthodox strategy has proved crucial for the Australians in their Ashes victory this summer, but fast bowler Scott Boland has admitted it has not always been easy – both for his ego and his length – to have wicketkeeper Alex Carey stand up at the stumps.Carey’s proximity to the wickets off the fast bowling of Boland, as well as Michael Neser in the second Test, has prevented England’s batters from standing out of the crease – a key tool in their pre-series plan to unsettle Australia’s bowlers.The tactic has delivered crucial wickets, but beyond the scorecard it has been identified as an important reason England have not been able to impose their will on the series that was lost inside 11 days. And it is only possible due to Carey’s talent with the gloves.Ahead of the Boxing Day Test, Boland said the tweak has been an adjustment for him and something of a blow to his ego, given he is one of the best pacemen in the country and typically bowls close to 140km/h
Wounded England must salvage more than pride in MCG Boxing Day Ashes Test
The world famous Boxing Day Test awaits England’s beaten cricketers and we are about to discover whether the mighty coliseum that is the Melbourne Cricket Ground becomes their arena of the unwell; whether pride can be salvaged or it is just another stepping stone for Australia in their pursuit of an Ashes whitewash.Last year a record 373,691 spectators passed through the turnstiles across five days as Australia overcame India in a slow-burn thriller. This fourth Ashes Test was tipped to top that remarkable figure potentially but that will hinge on it similarly going the distance. It also needs the locals to be energised still by a series that has already been won by their team – even if simply beating the old enemy is usually enough.England lasted just seven sessions here four years ago, the match settled before lunch on day three when Scott Boland ran through them on debut like a bull down the streets of Pamplona
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