A coalition of tech experts on Monday sued the Trump administration over a policy resulting in visa denials, detention or deportation for researchers and fact-checkers reporting on social media platforms.

The nonpartisan Coalition for Independent Technology Research filed the lawsuit in a federal court in Washington, D.C., naming Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Attorney General Pam Bondi as defendants.

The suit follows the administration's decision in December to impose visa sanctions on five European figures involved in regulating tech platforms, reiterating its longstanding assertion that such work amounted to a form of online censorship.

"The Trump administration is engaged in a brazen and far-reaching campaign of censorship while cynically and falsely claiming that censorship is what it is fighting," the suit said.

"Defendants have adopted a new policy of excluding and deporting noncitizens whose work involves combatting misinformation and disinformation, fact-checking, content moderation, trust and safety, or compliance."

In May last year, Rubio announced a "visa restriction policy" aimed at foreign officials and other individuals who are allegedly "complicit in censoring Americans."

In December, the International Fact-Checking Network said it was "deeply concerned" by reports that the State Department instructed staff to deny visas to people who have worked in fact-checking and content moderation.

"The Trump administration is using the threat of detention and deportation to suppress speech it disfavors," said Carrie DeCell, from the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, which filed the lawsuit on behalf of CITR.

"By targeting researchers and advocates for their work studying and reporting on social media platforms and online harms, the policy chills protected speech and distorts public debate about issues of profound public importance."

A Department of Justice spokesperson said the administration planned to "defend against baseless lawsuits like this."

Separately, the State Department said, "a visa is a privilege, not a right."

"The United States is under no obligation to admit or suffer the presence of individuals who subvert our laws and deny our citizens their constitutional rights," it added in a statement.