The White House is preparing to deport Imran Ahmed, the powerful UK government-linked anti-conservative activist behind a lobbying group that targets Republicans and President Donald Trump’s administration officials for censorship.
Ahmed runs the Centre for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), a censorship pressure group founded with help from UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Chief of Staff Morgan McSweeney.
The federal government is now revoking Ahmed’s U.S. visa and will deport the foreign lobbying back to the UK.
Ahmed is a former Labour Party aide now running CCDH’s U.S. operations out of Washington, D.C.
He is reportedly facing deportation after years of lobbying for crackdowns on the online speech of American citizens, deplatforming political opponents, and pressuring tech companies to suppress content he and his organization deem “harmful.”
According to reporting in The Telegraph, Ahmed has been placed at the “top of the list” of individuals to he deported under new visa restrictions.
A source familiar with internal discussions told the outlet:
“They want to send a message that they’re not having it. They’re not happy.
“They are very actively considering visa restrictions on him.”
The potential move is part of a wider effort under President Trump to confront foreign nationals who attempt to shape or restrict Americans’ free speech rights.
A Foreign-Run Censorship Network Under U.S. Scrutiny
The CCDH operates in both the U.S. and the UK and enjoys charitable status in America.
It presents itself as an anti-“disinformation” nonprofit.
But its campaigns have repeatedly targeted American citizens, political figures, and tech companies with demands for bans, deplatforming, and algorithmic suppression.
McSweeney, now Starmer’s chief of staff, helped found the organization before joining the Labour leader’s political operation.
The group has a long record of political targeting:
In 2021, it labeled Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. part of its “Disinformation Dozen.”
Internal documents leaked last year reportedly listed “kill Musk’s Twitter” as a CCDH priority.
The nonprofit published a wave of reports attacking Elon Musk’s stewardship of X and accusing the platform of fueling “rising misinformation and hate speech.”
Musk, a former Trump administration government efficiency czar, later sued the organization.
Although the case was dismissed, he publicly accused CCDH of violating U.S. laws on foreign interference.
Ahmed has since become a top target of Trump-aligned lawmakers and free speech advocates who argue that foreign activists should not be allowed to operate U.S.-based censorship campaigns.
America Won’t Tolerate Imported Censorship
Earlier this year, Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned that foreign nationals could be banned from the United States if found responsible for violating Americans’ free speech rights.
Ahmed now appears to be at the center of that crackdown.
The State Department declined to comment, citing visa confidentiality rules, saying only:
“Due to visa record confidentiality, we have no comment on department actions with respect to specific visa cases.”
Tensions Rise Over Britain’s Online Safety Act
The developing visa action is also part of growing U.S. backlash to the UK’s Online Safety Act, which gives British regulators sweeping authority to police speech and impose massive fines on American companies if the UK deems content “harmful.”
Those American companies include Apple, X, Meta, and Truth Social.
According to the report, senior members of Trump’s team view the law as an unacceptable foreign intrusion into Americans’ speech rights.
“The one thing everyone [in the Trump administration] agrees on is the need to dramatically pressure the UK over the Online Safety Act,” a source told The Telegraph.
Since the law took effect, Ofcom has already sent letters to U.S. companies demanding compliance, triggering outrage from lawmakers, tech executives, and constitutional experts.
Not the First British Figure Targeted Under Trump’s Free Speech Doctrine
Several other British nationals have recently faced visa revocation or bans tied to speech-related controversies:
Sami Hamdi, a self-described journalist, reportedly faced deportation after being arrested and having his visa revoked following comments allegedly praising the Oct. 7 massacre.
UK rap duo Bob Vylan were banned from entering the U.S. after calling for the death of Israeli soldiers during a Glastonbury performance.
U.S. Officials Already Warning the UK Over Free Speech Crackdowns
In May, The Telegraph revealed that U.S. diplomats were sent to London to confront British officials about restrictions on pro-life activists’ ability to protest.
The State Department delegation met with the Foreign Office and even challenged Ofcom directly over its enforcement of the Online Safety Act.
The Trump administration has since raised questions about several UK criminal cases, including the conviction of Lucy Connolly, who was jailed over a social media post reacting to the Southport murders.
Battle Over Who Controls Online Speech
Ahmed’s potential visa revocation marks a major escalation: a direct move against a well-connected British activist whose organization has shaped global censorship efforts for years.
If the White House follows through, the decision would send a clear message that foreign-based censorship networks will no longer be permitted to operate inside the United States, especially those targeting American citizens.
READ MORE – UK Government: First Amendment Doesn’t Protect Americans from British Censorship Laws
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