The U.S. State Department is calling out several foreign governments for allegedly pressuring American tech companies to censor content.
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The State Department is warning foreign governments against pressuring U.S. tech companies into censorship
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The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor posted on X, the Department of State is deeply concerned about efforts by governments to coerce American tech companies
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into targeting individuals for censorship. Freedom of expression must be protected online and offline
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Examples of this conduct are troublingly numerous. EU Commissioner Terry Breton threatened X for hosting political speech
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Turkey fined Mehta for refusing to restrict content about protests, and Australia required X to remove a post criticizing an individual for promoting gender ideology
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In the EU, Commissioner Terry Breton sent a letter to Elon Musk in August
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saying the platform could face consequences if posts were seen as harmful to people in the European Union
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criticizing him over a lack of content moderation. In Turkey, the government fined Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram
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after the company pushed back against demand to take down posts from political opponents
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Meta argued this kind of pressure from governments can limit free speech
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In the other example mentioned by the State Department, a post on X from Canadian activist Chris Elston, known online as Billboard Chris
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criticized an Australian transgender advocate sparking a legal battle. In February 2024 Elston reposted a Daily Mail article about Teddy Cook a transgender person appointed to a World Health Organization panel on trans healthcare
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Australia's e-safety commissioner said the post misgendered Cook in a way that was meant to mock and cause harm
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The commission then ordered the social media platform X to take it down
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But X and Elston are challenging Australia's call to take down the post
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That legal process is still playing out. In the meantime, access to this post has been restricted under a geo-based ban in Australia by its government
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However, it's still shown on X elsewhere, as we found the original X post without issue here in the U.S
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The State Department agency saying on X, even when content may be objectionable, censorship undermines democracy, suppresses political
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opponents, and degrades public safety. The United States opposes efforts to undermine freedom of
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expression. As Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, our diplomacy will continue to place an
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emphasis on promoting fundamental freedoms. The Trump administration has been vocal in its first
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100 days against countries that are, as they describe it, suppressing online speech
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You may remember last month we covered Vice President J.D. Vance's remarks over UK hate
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speech laws, reportedly wanting them to be put under review as part of trade talks with the U.S
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You can find our full report by downloading the Straight Arrow News mobile app or by visiting us online at san.com
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