Internal documents obtained by America First Legal from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) reveal disturbing efforts to promote widespread censorship practices across a variety of sectors, aimed at suppressing independent perspectives and alternative narratives. I made it. Among the tactics included in the report, the agency advocates “advertiser outreach” to reduce the “financial reporting” of companies that do not comply with government policy.
Foundation for Online Freedom report A recently unearthed Disinformation Primer written by USAID’s Center for Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance (DRG) exposes the agency’s overt support of private sector censorship strategies and promotes additional censorship practices. We are proposing technology. A 97-page document obtained by public interest law firm America First Legal (AFL) through a lawsuit against the U.S. State Department alleges USAID’s coordination to influence technology companies, news organizations, the Department of Education, the national government, and funding organizations. We have made clear our efforts. Take censorship measures.
🚨Breaking news🚨
Our lawsuit against Biden’s State Department unearthed USAID’s Disinformation Primer, revealing evidence of a government conspiracy to advance censorship efforts.critical analysis from @FFO_Freedom @MikeBenzCyber @AlumBokhari: https://t.co/EyB1UVZvBU
— America First Legal (@America1stLegal) March 14, 2024
One of the most alarming proposals outlined in this primer is the “advertiser outreach” strategy. It explicitly encourages corporate advertisers to financially suppress unfavorable media sources and social media accounts. USAID argues that “reducing this financial support found in the ad tech sector will hinder disinformation activists from spreading their messages online.” This tactic is widely employed by the censorship industry and directly undermines the financial sustainability of independent and alternative media.
The USAID report expresses concern about the decline in the influence of traditional media, characterizing it as a “loss of information integrity.” The primer advocates “media literacy” initiatives, which often serve as a means of psychologically conditioning the population to distrust and avoid certain types of media that the establishment dislikes. This approach not only undermines the principles of free speech and open debate, but also perpetuates the monopoly of information by traditional media sources.
The USAID report also targets gamers and gaming sites, calling for the need to censor “interpretations of the world that differ from ‘mainstream’ sources.” Rather than focusing on foreign state actors, the agency specifically identified ordinary individuals contributing original research and collectively forming “populist expertise” as a key threat. ing. This stance reveals an alarming disregard for the people’s fundamental right to engage in independent thought and expression.
This primer also covers controversial censorship techniques such as Google’s “redirect method” and “pre-banking,” which aim to redirect users searching for objectionable content to information carefully selected by institutions. Recommended. These techniques, developed by influential censorship industry figures like Jigsaw and Joan Donovan, represent a blatant attempt to manipulate public discourse and shape the narrative. .
Additionally, USAID’s definition of “misinformation” includes factually accurate statements that are considered “taken out of context,” and legitimate statements in the name of combating misinformation. The agency has wide discretion to censor. Even satire and parody are classified as types of disinformation, further eroding the boundaries of freedom of expression.
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Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering free speech and online censorship issues.
