Ultrasurf

[gepr]

Falun Gong, Steve Bannon And The Trump-Era Battle Over Internet Freedom
https://www.npr.org/2021/04/14/986982387/falun-gong-steve-bannon-and-the-trump-era-battle-over-internet-freedom

The SMMRY: https://smmry.com/https://www.npr.org/2021/04/14/986982387/falun-gong-steve-bannon-and-the-trump-era-battle-over-internet-freedom#&SM_LENGTH=7

> Falun Gong, Steve Bannon And The Battle Over Internet Freedom Under Trump The Trump administration and a liberal activist fought to win millions in federal funds for anti-censorship software tied to the Falun Gong.
>
> Of all the disruptions unleashed by the Trump White House on how the federal government typically works, the saga of one small project, called the Open Technology Fund, stands out.
>
> "Any time a journalist or human rights defender - whether they're in China or Iran or Russia - picks up one of our technologies, we know and they know that they are being protected as best as they possibly can," says Laura Cunningham, who was fired as president of the Open Technology Fund under Trump and then restored to her position.
>
> The State Department's inspector general has been investigating a whistleblower's allegations - first being made public by NPR in this story - that the concerted effort to divert funds to the Falun Gong software Ultrasurf was a criminal conspiracy.
>
> He told the various national security officials present that the State Department had not continued funding Ultrasurf because it did not want to offend Chinese officials, given its roots in Falun Gong.
>
> According to the whistleblower complaint, that USAGM had "Gotten rid of some people" and that decisions on which Internet freedom initiatives would be funded would be made "Less ideologically." He made the case that religious groups needed to play a greater role, according to the whistleblower, clearly referring to Ultrasurf.
>
> As of late last year, Pack and other former USAGM officials were facing a formal criminal inquiry over the whole issue - the Open Technology Fund, Ultrasurf, the firings, all of it.

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