US website ‘freedom.gov’ will allow Europeans to view hate speech and other blocked content


The US State Department is building a web portal, where Europeans and anyone else can see online content banned by their governments, according to Reuters. It was supposed to be launched at Munich Security Conference last month, but some state department officials reportedly voiced their concerns about the project. The portal will be hosted on freedom.gov, which currently just shows the image above. “Freedom is Coming,” the homepage reads. “Information is power. Reclaim your human right to free expression. Get Ready.”

Reuters says officials discussed making a virtual private network function available on the portal and making visitors’ traffic appear as if they were from the US, so they could see anything unavailable to them. While it’s a state department project, The Guardian has traced the domain to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), which is a component of the US Department of Homeland Security. Homeland also serves as the administrator for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The project could drive the wedge further between the US and its European allies. European authorities don’t usually order broad censorships preventing their citizens from being able to access large parts of the internet. Typically, they only order the blocking of hate speech, terrorist propaganda, disinformation and anything illegal under the EU’s Digital Services Act or the UK’s Online Safety Act.

“If the Trump administration is alleging that they’re gonna be bypassing content bans, what they’re gonna be helping users access in Europe is essentially hate speech, pornography, and child sexual abuse material,” Nina Jankowicz, who served as the executive director of Homeland Security’s Disinformation Governance Board, told The Guardian. The board was very short-lived and was disbanded a few months after it was formed, following complaints by Republican lawmakers that it would impinge on people’s rights to free speech.

When asked about the project, the state department said it didn’t have a program specifically meant to circumvent censorship in Europe. But the spokesperson said: “Digital freedom is a priority for the State Department, however, and that includes the proliferation of privacy and censorship-circumvention technologies like VPNs.”



Source link

  • Related Posts

    Anker’s powerful home theater on wheels is pure chaos

    The Soundcore Nebula X1 Pro is too weird to exist. It takes the excellent 4K projector and karaoke microphones from Anker’s Nebula X1 and stuffs them inside a powerful five-speaker…

    Meta’s flagship metaverse service leaves VR behind

    Some of the changes—like the removal of individual worlds from the VR store—are presented by the company as efforts to make the store a better discovery platform for third-party developers.…

    Leave a Reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    You Missed

    Frank Stronach’s defence presses complainant on question of consent — ‘My position is you have regret’

    Frank Stronach’s defence presses complainant on question of consent — ‘My position is you have regret’

    US military strikes another alleged drug boat in eastern Pacific, killing 3

    US military strikes another alleged drug boat in eastern Pacific, killing 3

    Why Reagan National Just Replaced This 1950s-Era System

    Why Reagan National Just Replaced This 1950s-Era System

    Videos show aftermath of deadly Israeli attacks in Lebanon | Newsfeed

    Videos show aftermath of deadly Israeli attacks in Lebanon | Newsfeed

    That SCOTUS Tariff Decision, Poilievre Doom-Scrolling, Epstein Scalp-Watch, Olympic Catch-Up

    That SCOTUS Tariff Decision, Poilievre Doom-Scrolling, Epstein Scalp-Watch, Olympic Catch-Up

    Asian economies weigh impact of fresh Trump tariff moves, confusion

    Asian economies weigh impact of fresh Trump tariff moves, confusion