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A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from arresting or deporting Imran Ahmed, CEO of the Center for Countering Digital Hate<\/a> (CCDH).<\/p>\n The New York Times reports<\/a> that Ahmed is one of five researchers and regulators whose work around online abuse and disinformation<\/a> drew the ire of the U.S. State Department, which declared this week that they are barred from the United States.<\/p>\n Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the targeted individuals<\/a> as \u201cradical activists and weaponized NGOs\u201d who have \u201cled organized efforts to coerce American platforms to censor, demonetize, and suppress American viewpoints they oppose.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n While Ahmed was born in the United Kingdom, he has a U.S. green card, resides in the United States, and has an American wife and child.<\/p>\n Ahmed defended his work in an interview with PBS News<\/a>, describing the government\u2019s move as \u201canother example of these companies [such as Meta, OpenAI, and Elon Musk\u2019s X] which have tried to evade responsibility using their big money to try and influence things in politics.\u201d<\/p>\n A lawsuit by X against the CCDH was dismissed last year<\/a>, but an appeal is pending.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n