Can the U.S. government use counterterrorism as an excuse to stop Americans from talking to foreigners? Until this week, the Biden administration seemed to think so. When the New York-based nonprofit Foundation for Global Political Exchange tried to hold a conference in Lebanon, the U.S. Department of the Treasury argued that it had to bar certain Lebanese speakers because they were on the terrorist list or under other U.S. economic sanctions.
Even though no money or goods were changing hands, the Treasury's Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) wrote in 2022 that "the provision of a platform for [the sanctioned individuals] to speak" was considered a "service," and therefore illegal for Americans.
