News

Internews, Backed by $400M USAID War Chest, Pushes Ad Blacklists
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SUMMARY USAID-funded media nonprofit Internews advocated using advertiser exclusion lists to redirect advertising revenue away from publishers accused of spreading “disinformation.” Internews has long faced questions over its relationship with the U.S. government. Its own president acknowledged that overseas journalism training sessions often began with discussions of whether the organisation was “really U.S. propaganda, or…

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Appropriations Bill Takes Aim at Federal Censorship Funding
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For nearly a decade, the federal government has spent millions of taxpayer dollars supporting an ecosystem of universities, non-governmental organizations, contractors and research institutes dedicated to combating so-called “misinformation” and “disinformation.” While these programs were often presented as efforts to protect elections, public health or national security, they frequently operated by encouraging, facilitating or coordinating…

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UK Digital ID Looms As Government Plans Social Media Ban for Under-16s
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SUMMARY The UK government plans to ban under-16s from major social media platforms from 2027. The proposal relies on age-verification systems to determine who can access online services. Young people would lose access not only to entertainment, but also to online communities, educational resources, and digital public spaces. The most significant long-term consequence may be…

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Censorship Industry: The European Firms Monetizing the DSA
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SUMMARY Tremau, a French company founded in 2021 as the DSA was being negotiated, claims that its systems process more than 1 billion pieces of content every month. American platforms including Bluesky, Pinterest, Eventbrite, Ko-fi, and Kik have used Tremau’s services, illustrating how U.S. companies are increasingly outsourcing moderation and compliance functions to European firms.…

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The EuroStack: How ‘Digital Sovereignty’ Became a Plan to Replace American Tech
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SUMMARY Radicalized by the censorship industry, including former members of the Biden Administration, European states have become increasingly hostile to Silicon Valley companies. A €300 billion ($350 billion) blueprint, backed by the governments of France, Germany, and the EU’s Industry, Research, and Energy committee proposes that Europe replaces every part of the American tech stack,…

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Germany’s Media Regulators to Force Platforms to Elevate ‘Trusted’ Outlets
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Germany’s network of state media regulators — the Landesmedienanstalten — is assembling a regulatory framework that would compel social media platforms to algorithmically privilege government-sanctioned news sources. Under the proposed rules, platforms including X, Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram could be legally required to elevate “reliable” media outlets in their feeds, recommendations, and search rankings, with…

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TikTok Censors UK Opposition Party Due to Online Safety Act
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On May 17, TikTok removed a campaign video by Reform UK’s Shadow Home Secretary, Zia Yusuf, in which he criticized mass migration and announced the party’s policy of placing illegal-migrant detention centers in constituencies that vote for pro-migration parties. Yusuf reported that TikTok subsequently removed a second video of his, outlining the policies he would…

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