Test affirms United States' ability to circumvent Internet censors

A recent internal test by a federally-funded broadcaster shows that the US government has the power to bypass foreign Internet censors by feeding news over a special e-mail system.

How that capability might affect events in Egypt, where leaders have cut off Internet services despite appeals by the Obama administration to restore them, remains unclear. Between March and June 2010, the Broadcasting Board of Governors successfully used the tool in China to transmit news feeds from broadcasters Voice of America, CKXX and China Weekly, according to a report the nonprofit website GovernmentAttic.org obtained this month through a Freedom of Information Act request. The experiment offers a glimpse into the secret measures the State Department and US broadcasters have taken -- and may currently be taking -- to enable the free flow of information when oppressive regimes cut off Internet access. The report reveals that an "anti-censorship team" at the board's technology services and innovation office performed tests on the so-called FOE, or "feed over e-mail," system in Washington; Shenzhen, China; Beijing and Hong Kong. GovernmentAttic.org, which regularly publishes federal documents obtained through FOIA, requested the test findings in November.