CNAS: Make it Illegal for U.S. Companies to Aid Internet-Suppressing Autocrats

Congress should pass laws prohibiting American corporations from giving autocratic regimes the private information of anti-government protesters and force them to periodically disclose any requests for such data to the US government, the Center for a New American Security argues in a new report.

The CNAS report on Internet Freedom also recommends that the government relax export controls on circumvention technology and other tools that dissidents might use to stay online as they organize protests and criticize their governments. The US government should also "educate companies on the precise nature of export control restrictions so that companies do not over-comply and deny legal technologies to dissidents abroad," the national security-focused think tank said.