Mike Benz

Michael Benz is the Executive Director of the Foundation for Freedom Online. Previously, Mr. Benz served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Communications and Information Technology at the U.S. Department of State. Follow him on Twitter @FFO_Freedom.

Just the News: ‘Virality Circuit Breakers:’ Taxpayer-funded researchers devise new stealth censorship strategies

A digital free-speech watchdog is warning that federally funded researchers have captured and examined millions of Twitter posts they deemed to be “misinformation” during the 2020 election and used them to devise new strategies that one day could empower Big Tech to censor or throttle content while keeping the affected users and the public in…

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Star News Network: Director of Internet Free Speech Nonprofit Sounds Alarm on ‘Middleware’ Censorship by NewsGuard

The founder of a nonprofit that advocates for freedom of speech on the internet is sounding the alarm on government weaponization of “middleware” companies, which he said are essentially shell organizations for government censorship. “The reason that they call it competitive middleware is because they’re trying to create a competitive industry around middleware compliance to…

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Dem Gov Katie Hobbs requested Twitter censor critics of tweet comparing Trump supporters to Nazis

Now, it appears the agency may be concealing its efforts to monitor domestic content posted by regular Americans and focusing exclusively on its campaign to combat foreign actors in what some observers say is a move designed to hide government overreach, according to research compiled by Mike Benz, the Foundation for Freedom Online’s executive director.…

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Director of Internet Free Speech Nonprofit Sounds Alarm on ‘Middleware’ Censorship by NewsGuard

“Since government organizations cannot outrightly censor news outlets without running afoul of the First Amendment, said Benz, government agencies are farming the censorship out to private companies. “Benz, a business law attorney, was in charge of the cyber and Big Tech portfolios for the U.S. State Department, where he served as deputy assistant secretary for…

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Daily Caller: UN Takes Cues From Orgs That Seek To Censor Conservatives

The Daily Caller published a piece examining a new United Nations policy proposal that outlines how to “combat online ‘mis- and disinformation and hate speech,’” including by demonetizing people and social media channels online. The policy proposal is informed by groups that actively censor conservative political speech online, most notably the Global Disinformation Index. Daily…

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Nature Magazine: Disinformation researchers under investigation: what’s happening and why

Foundation for Freedom Online was given nearly full credit from Nature Magazine for the backlash against the censorship industry. “The idea of a coordinated censorship regime originated last year from a series of reports by the Foundation for Freedom Online, a self-described watchdog organization set up by a former US State Department diplomat. Conservative billionaire…

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OANN: Interview with Neil McCabe

Mike recorded an interview with OANN’s Neil McCabe about online censorship. This interview also has not been posted online, yet. Mike BenzMichael Benz is the Executive Director of the Foundation for Freedom Online. Previously, Mr. Benz served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Communications and Information Technology at the U.S. Department of State. Follow him…

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Fox News: Interview with Jon Michael Raasch

Mike recorded an interview with Fox News’ Jon Michael Raasch about AI censorship, which explores the causes and consequences of the concepts Mike discussed in a now-viral video posted on Twitter. This interview aired on Saturday but has not been uploaded to the Fox News website, yet. The Twitter video received extensive write-ups in Zerohedge,…

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