Dutch influencer Eva Vlaardingerbroek was banned from entering the United Kingdom.
Her electronic travel authorisation (ETA, an authorization allowing EU citizens to travel visa-free to the UK after Brexit) was cancelled, because her ‘presence in the UK was not considered to be conducive to the public good’. No right to appeal.
Her opinion about the ban is simple, ‘I’m not a criminal, they’re giving me no due process’.
Her crime?
A well-known figure in far-right circles, Vlaardingerbroek spoke last year on the ‘possibly the largest far-right protest in UK history’, well in line with what other speakers like Tommy Robinson or Elon Musk said. She’s also appeared on media with American commentator Tucker Carlson.
She demands that immigrants should be ‘remigrated’. Her anti-immigration views have gained her about a million followers on Instagram.
But the last straw appears to have been that she described British Prime Minister Keir Starmer an ‘evil, despicable man’ and posted on X about Starmer allowing the illegal activities of ‘migrant rape gangs’ (something that has been a hot topic in the United Kingdom for months) yet wanting to ‘crack down on X under the pretence of women’s safety’.
Apparently expressing one’s opinion today is a threat significant enough to justify declaring that person persona non grata.
Especially when it comes to wording some criticism of the prime minister, whose sudden urge to regulate X comes just after sexualized deepfake photos appeared about him, made by Musk’s AI tool Grok. Sir Keir has warned Mr. Musk that if ‘he can’t control Grok, the government will’.
In the country that, in the course of centuries, laid the foundations of civil liberties – from Magna Carta through the Bill of Rights, each adding a bit of extension to the freedom of speech, this is an alarming development.
In the name of protecting the society, vulnerable groups or minorities, any view that’s considered ‘controversial’ or ‘outside the mainstream acceptance’ is deemed dangerous or ‘misinformation’ and should face backlash or ban.
Questioned by an American Congressional committee, in September 2025 Nigel Farage has compared the country to ‘North Korea’ and talked about the ‘awful authoritarian situation [we] have sunk into’. Back then, he was only accused of being a ‘Putin-loving free speech impostor’ and ‘as anti-British as you can get’.
Several leading figures from the Republican Party and the Trump administration agreed with him, accusing the country of ‘clamping down on free speech’.
Of course, not Vlaardingerbroek is the first one to be banned from the country – the list includes Islamist preachers and terrorists (or people linked to terrorists).
Thus, in 2026, in the United Kingdom, expressing criticism against the prime minister falls under the same category as incitement to violence.
A 26-year old Dutch influencer poses a threat similar to a well-trained Islamist and deserves be banned from the UK.
In retrospect, PM Sir Keir might had been better off, had British authorities done nothing – because now, once again, the world is talking about the democratic backsliding that’s happening in the United Kingdom and the steps threatening freedom of speech.
On the other hand, Eva Vlaardingerbroek might be secretly grateful for the ban.
Before, her name was mostly known in circles labelled ‘far-right’.
Now, the whole world knows her.
