US builds website that will allow Europeans to view blocked content

"The portal, freedom.gov, will allow worldwide users to circumvent government controls on their content. The site features a graphic of a ghostly horse galloping above the Earth, and the motto: Information is power. Reclaim your human right to free expression. Get ready. Though reports suggest the portal was developed by the state department, the domain appears to be administered by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)."

"Over the past decade, this programme gave more than $500m to digital rights experts from Myanmar to Iran to Cuba to Venezuela who built tools used by local populations to access the global internet. Those tools allowed pictures and videos to filter out of Iran during the recent internet shutdown; they are heavily used by journalists and activists worldwide. Freedom.gov appears to be an effort to redirect and politicise the Internet Freedom programme, according to multiple sources."

"Internet Freedom funded tools that are open-source and privacy-preserving technologies whose code can be audited and that do not expose their users to surveillance. These tools were not designed by US businesses, but by techno"

Freedom.gov will allow worldwide users to circumvent government controls and let Europeans view content blocked for alleged hate speech and terrorism. The site displays a ghostly horse graphic above Earth and the motto: Information is power. Reclaim your human right to free expression. Get ready. The domain appears to be administered by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) within the Department of Homeland Security. The initiative follows the Trump administration's scaling back of the Internet Freedom programme, which previously funded grassroots groups and technologies to bypass censorship. Over the past decade the programme provided more than $500m to digital-rights experts from Myanmar, Iran, Cuba and Venezuela who built open-source, privacy-preserving tools used by journalists, activists and local populations. Freedom.gov has been described by some observers as an effort to redirect and politicise Internet Freedom, appearing combative and performative and extending US concern about expression even to allied countries in Europe.

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