LOC09:15
06:15 GMT
WASHINGTON, March 16 (KUNA) -- The US State Department confirmed late
Thursday it spent USD 25 million this year on internet freedom programming
tools for activists in the Middle East and elsewhere.
In the past four years, the United States has spent USD 76 million on
training and tools for activists to allow them to remain online and "safely
exercise their freedoms of expression, and assembly on the Internet and via
other communication technologies," according to a statement released by the
State department.
In the Middle East, the US-sponsored programming tools focusing on aiding
hundreds of thousands of pro-democracy protesters from shut down by their
respective governments by allowing them "unfettered Internet access" and
through mobile security software that allows for posting directly from the
phone to online.
Noting that countering increasingly active internet surveillance and
censorship efforts aimed at suppressing individuals' exercise of their human
rights requires a diverse portfolio of tools and training, the State
Department said it grants support more advanced technologies, including in
Farsi and Arabic.
To date, the US has also trained over 7,500 activists world wide including
many from the Middle East in cyber-self defense and plans to expand its
efforts in the Middle East and throughout the world. (end)
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