That’s more like his opinion or a post facto justification. Turns out it is a US thing.

If your company is on the U.S. OFAC SDN lists, subject to an OFAC sanctions program, or owned/controlled by a company on the list, our ability to collaborate with you will be subject to restrictions, and you cannot be in the MAINTAINERS file.

So to get back, you have to basically prove that you have no relations with OFAC SDN companies.

This update is from https://lwn.net/Articles/995186/