Group
The abstruse accusation is that they are part of a „global censorship-industrial complex“. The US State Department classifies them as „radical activists“ and „armed organizations“. In reality, they campaign for human rights in the digital space and support the implementation of democratically legitimized European laws.
This repression is not just an attack on two committed German citizens, it is a frontal assault on European sovereignty and the independence of civil society. And the case is a perfect example of why the issue of digital sovereignty has long been of existential importance to us all.
What is HateAid and what happened?
HateAid was founded in 2018 and supports those affected by digital violence - from hate speech and cyberbullying to targeted disinformation campaigns. The organization offers advice and legal support, funds litigation and campaigns at a political level for better protection in the digital space.
Anna-Lena von Hodenberg, one of the two sanctioned managing directors, was only awarded the Federal Cross of Merit in October 2025 for her commitment to human rights in the digital space. Now she is no longer allowed to enter the USA. Her ESTA visa, which was already valid, was revoked by email without further ado.
In addition to the HateAid CEOs, the former EU Commissioner Thierry Breton, who was instrumental in driving forward the Digital Services Act (DSA), and the CEOs of two British organizations are also affected: Imran Ahmed, CEO of the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), and Clare Melford, CEO of the Global Disinformation Index.
The real conflict: The Digital Services Act
The core of the conflict and the background to the intimidation tactics is the European Union's Digital Services Act (DSA). This set of rules, which was adopted in 2022, obliges large tech platforms to increase transparency and moderate illegal content, among other things. What is democratically legitimized and legally binding in Europe is defamed as „censorship“ by the Trump administration and its allied tech billionaires. The US government is criminalizing people who are committed to implementing European laws.
Digital sovereignty as a lever against anti-democratic intimidation tactics
At this point, the relevance of digital sovereignty, which is a fundamental principle for us at the Heinlein Group, becomes clear. The sanctions and intimidation tactics show what happens when critical digital infrastructures and services are in the hands of a few, predominantly US corporations.
The US Cloud Act of 2018 obliges US companies to grant US authorities access to data - regardless of where this data is physically stored. This applies even if this violates the data protection laws of the country in which the data is located. For individuals and organizations affected by US sanctions, this means that accounts with cloud services such as Microsoft 365, Google Workspace or AWS could be blocked from one day to the next. This is accompanied by the loss of access to email communication and other communication and collaboration tools. Payment services such as PayPal or credit cards from US providers could be blocked.
The sanctions against HateAid show: What is used against civil society organizations today can affect every critical voice, every organization, every authority and every company tomorrow.
Solidarity with HateAid
As Heinlein Group, we stand in solidarity with HateAid with our brands Heinlein Support, mailbox, OpenTalk and OpenCloud. As a group, we continue to work on creating alternatives that make Europe independent of the arbitrariness of individual governments and corporations. The sanctions against Anna-Lena von Hodenberg and Josephine Ballon are an attack on people who stand up for democratic values, human rights and civilized communication in the digital space.
We demand:
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A clear political response and the protection of civil society: organizations such as HateAid must not be able to be paralyzed under external political pressure. The German government and the EU Commission must protest strongly and examine measures. Under no circumstances should the US sanctions be accepted unchallenged.
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Consistent enforcement of European law: The Digital Services Act is democratically legitimized. Tech companies must comply with it - regardless of what the US government thinks.
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Investing in digital sovereignty: Digital sovereignty means that we as a society, companies and organizations retain control over our digital infrastructures and data. It means independence from individual providers and political arbitrariness. We finally need a reliable European strategy for resilient digitalization.
To the statement of HateAid: https://hateaid.org/einreiseverbot-gegen-geschaeftsfuehrerinnen-von-hateaid/
