US spent USD 25 [million] on internet freedom in Middle East in 2012

[Jeffrey Walton <noloader () gmail com>]

http://www.kuna.net.kw/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=2227525&language=en

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.
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