US denounces Europe's human rights record

The United States on Tuesday alleged that human rights were worsening in Western Europe due to internet regulations, in a pared-down annual global report that spared partners of President Donald Trump such as El Salvador.

The State Department's congressionally required report historically has offered extensive accounts of all nations' records, documenting in dispassionate detail issues from unjust detention to extrajudicial killing to personal freedoms.

For the first report under Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the State Department trimmed sections and took particular aim at countries that have been in the crosshairs of Trump, including Brazil and South Africa.

On China, which the United States across administrations has identified as a top adversary, the State Department report said that "genocide" was ongoing against the mostly Muslim Uyghur people, whose plight Rubio took up as a senator.

But the report also took striking aim at some of the closest allies of the United States, saying that human rights had worsened in Britain, France and Germany due to regulations on online hate speech.

In Britain, following the stabbing deaths of three young girls, authorities took action against internet users who falsely alleged that a migrant was responsible and urged revenge.

The State Department report described the British efforts as officials having "repeatedly intervened to chill speech" and said that the close US ally had experienced "credible reports of serious restrictions on freedom of expression."

The criticism comes despite Rubio moving aggressively in the United States to deny or strip visas of foreign nationals over their statements and social media postings, especially student activists who have criticized Israel.

Trump is an avid social media user who frequently berates opponents in personal tones. His administration has repeatedly taken on Europe over restrictions on social media platforms, many of which are US-based.

In February, Vice President JD Vance used a visit to Germany to champion the far-right AfD party after the country's spy agency called it extremist.

The report also said that rights deteriorated in 2024 in Brazil, where Trump has pressed against prosecution of former president Jair Bolsonaro, his ally accused of a coup attempt with echoes of the January 6, 2021 riot at the US Capitol by Trump's supporters.