An open letter from the International Editorial Board of the World Socialist Web Site to socialist, anti-war, left-wing and progressive websites, organizations and activists

Internet Censorship

The US government, in collaboration with social media companies, is implementing massive restrictions on Internet access. Capitalist governments in Europe and throughout the world are enacting similar repressive policies. In late April 2017, Google announced the implementation of new algorithms aimed at limiting or blocking access to the WSWS and other left wing, anti-war and progressive websites. Similar measures to deny Internet users access to revolutionary socialist and oppositional information and commentary have been implemented by Facebook and Twitter. The World Socialist Web Site has taken the lead in exposing this conspiracy to censor the Internet and issued a call for the formation of an International Coalition of Socialist, Anti-War and Progressive Websites to fight back against this attack on freedom of speech and basic democratic rights.

By Kevin Reed, 19 September 2020

The move is an assault on freedom of expression and an effort to consolidate control of the internet by a handful of massive corporations working in partnership with the American government.

A statement by David North, chairman of the International Editorial Board

David North, 18 September 2020

On Friday, October 2, 2020, the World Socialist Web Site will be relaunched with an entirely new design and with vastly enhanced functionality.

By Elliott Murtagh, 12 September 2020

The establishment of the center at NYU, a university with close ties to the state, reflects the ruling class’s increasing concerns over the political effects of social media.

By Kevin Reed, 7 September 2020

The new measures are aimed at protecting the capitalist two-party system and labeling left-wing political ideas as the work of “Russian interference.”

By Andre Damon, 7 September 2020

The US media's claims of a nefarious campaign by Russia to "sow divisions" during in the 2016 election have been discredited. But the New York Times is “at it again.”

By Kevin Reed, 5 September 2020

The US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the bulk phone record collection program of the NSA—exposed by former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden in 2013—violated the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

By Kevin Reed, 5 September 2020

The blacklisting of the World Socialist Web Site on r/politics is a politically-motivated and unjustified attack on the rights of Reddit users to speak freely and read whatever they want on the link-sharing platform.

By Kevin Reed, 2 September 2020

The drive to force the Chinese-owned video sharing app to be sold to a US company was countered by Beijing’s imposition of export restrictions on software components of the platform.

By Kevin Reed, 29 August 2020

After the article appeared on the front page of Reddit with over 9,000 upvotes, moderators removed it on the grounds that the WSWS is an “unacceptable source.”

By Kevin Reed, 22 August 2020

Facebook has adopted positions put forward by the Trump administration and US Justice Department targeting left-wing opposition in the latest expansion of its political censorship regime.

By Kevin Reed, 14 August 2020

Nine of the largest tech firms in the US met with multiple government police and intelligence agencies on Wednesday to discuss “election security” in the campaign prior to and on election day in November.

By Kevin Reed, 3 August 2020

Under the White House’s direction, Microsoft is preparing to acquire the video-sharing app TikTok in a forced-divestiture from its China-based company ByteDance.

31 July 2020

This letter from David North was written in response to Pichai’s testimony on Wednesday before the House Committee on the Judiciary, in which he acknowledged complaints from the WSWS of censorship by Google.

By Kevin Reed, 24 July 2020

The revelations about Twitter’s methods for manipulating the account activity of users show that censorship is a top level priority of the social media company.

By Kevin Reed, 18 July 2020

There is bipartisan support in Congress for the Trump administration’s aggressive efforts against the Chinese app.

By Kevin Reed, 16 July 2020

The bipartisan vote passed to the floor of the Senate a redraft of the bill which exploits online child sexual abuse as a cover to attack free speech and encrypted electronic communications.

By V. Gnana, 16 July 2020

The move aims to prevent the Socialist Equality Party of Sri Lanka from alerting Tamil-speaking workers internationally in a timely fashion of the political dangers they face.

By Kevin Reed, 2 July 2020

On Monday, the news aggregation site Reddit banned the pro-Trump r/The_Donald and the left-radical r/ChapoTrapHouse, along with hundreds of other subreddits, in a censorship move aimed at satisfying the demands of advertisers.

By Kevin Reed, 29 June 2020

Three Republican Senators introduced a draft bill that would force tech companies to decrypt private consumer data on-demand for law enforcement.

By Tom Peters, 8 June 2020

The Labour Party-led government’s legislation would empower the Chief Censor “to make swift time-limited interim classification assessments of any publication.”

By Kevin Reed, 28 May 2020

President Trump issued a threat to shut down social media companies on Wednesday after Twitter placed a fact-checking label on two of his tweets making unsubstantiated claims about mail-in ballots.

By Kevin Reed, 21 May 2020

The DOJ case will reportedly raise “concerns that Google uses its dominant search business to stifle competition.”

By Kevin Reed, 16 May 2020

The Senate voted 80 to 16 to reauthorize the domestic surveillance provisions of the USA Freedom Act, including rejection of an amendment that would have barred law enforcement from accessing the internet browsing and search histories of citizens.

By Kevin Reed, 20 April 2020

The two US tech monopolies that dominate the international mobile devices market have announced a joint effort to implement COVID-19 contact tracing technologies.

By Vimukthi Vidarshana, 9 April 2020

The arrest of social media users exposing Colombo’s inadequate responses to COVID-19 will be extended to online publishers and media outlets.

By Kevin Reed, 3 April 2020

The subreddit r/coronavirus has banned content from the World Socialist Web Site from being shared among its 1.8 million reader-members. We are demanding that the moderators explain why this decision has been made and immediately reverse this act of political censorship.

By Ulrich Rippert, 23 March 2020

The social democratic state premier of Lower Saxony, Boris Pistorius, has called for a clamp-down against those contradicting official government propaganda about the coronavirus epidemic.

By Kevin Reed, 2 March 2020

A federal appeals court in California upheld the dismissal of a 2017 lawsuit brought by the right-wing video publisher PragerU based on claims that YouTube was biased and was violating First Amendment freedoms.

By Kevin Reed, 15 February 2020

A major assault on First Amendment rights of free speech and freedom of the press is being prepared.

By Kevin Reed, 13 February 2020

The revelations that the CIA and NSA have been spying on the diplomatic cables of governments around the world for the past five decades demonstrates that the American imperialism has long operated as a law unto itself in world affairs.

By Niles Niemuth, 10 February 2020

The massive breach of the right to privacy, first justified by President Bush in the guise of the “war on terror,” then expanded under President Obama, is now being utilized in Trump’s fascistic war on immigrants.

By Kevin Reed, 8 February 2020

The assault on end-to-end encryption is part of the ongoing drive by the state to censor and regulate content on the internet.

By Patrick Martin, 31 January 2020

While nominally directed against Russia and right-wing “trolls,” the proposal would open the way to a sweeping attack on the democratic rights of the American people.

By Oscar Grenfell, 30 January 2020

The NSA whistleblower wrote: “The most essential journalism of every era is precisely that which a government attempts to silence. These prosecutions demonstrate that they are ready to stop the presses—if they can.”

By Kevin Reed, 27 January 2020

Opposition is growing to the plan by the Internet Society, the non-profit organization responsible for managing the standards and protocols of the internet, to sell the top-level domain registry .ORG to the private equity firm Ethos Capital for $1.135 billion.

By Bill Van Auken, 22 January 2020

The trumped-up charges against Greenwald by Bolsonaro’s fascistic government are of a piece with the global assault on free speech and democratic rights and the jailing of WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange.

By Kevin Reed, 20 January 2020

The popular, authoritative and original content published by the World Socialist Web Site on the New York Times Magazine’s 1619 Project is being manually suppressed by Google in search results.

By Rohantha De Silva, 17 January 2020

The Information Technology Bill’s vague language puts social media users at high risk for criticising business leaders, politicians and bureaucrats.

By Kevin Reed, 16 January 2020

The social media companies YouTube, Facebook and Twitter are following the orders of the Trump administration in the aftermath of the criminal assassination of Iranian General Suleimani on January 3.

By Andre Damon, 27 December 2019

Amid a global upsurge of political protests and strikes, governments all over the world are shutting down the internet in desperate bids to stem the tide of popular opposition.

By Kevin Reed, 5 December 2019

Somerset Bean, an artist and political activist, who has been a staunch supporter of WikiLeaks and Julian Assange, revealed on Monday that Google was compelled by court order to provide the US authorities access to his online account.

By Kevin Reed, 27 November 2019

Google dismissed the workers on Monday in retaliation for their participation in the organized opposition of the workforce to company policies and practices.

By Andre Damon, 18 November 2019

A report published Friday confirms many of the central allegations made by the World Socialist Web Site in 2017 regarding Google’s censorship of the internet.

By Kevin Reed, 11 November 2019

Facebook and YouTube have taken the extraordinary step of censoring social media content on their platforms that mention the name of the CIA whistleblower behind the impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump.

By Andre Damon, 9 November 2019

While couched in demagogic language accusing Facebook of “profiting” off of “disinformation,” the Democrats’ campaign for internet censorship is aimed at silencing political opposition and dissent.

By Andre Damon, 1 November 2019

The move by Twitter is a capitulation to demands by congressional Democrats and the media that technology companies more aggressively censor political statements, in the guise of “fact-checking.”

By Kevin Reed, 1 November 2019

Amazon was widely expected to win the ten-year agreement, but Trump’s intervention apparently tipped the contract to Microsoft.

By Kevin Reed, 30 October 2019

The independent journalist was shackled in a cage for five hours on a false charge stemming from protests at the Venezuelan embassy in April and May of this year.

By Jerry White, 29 October 2019

Flint Assembly workers, including a 19-year veteran of GM, have been targeted in a campaign of retaliation aimed at silencing opposition to the corporations and the UAW.

By Kevin Reed and Andre Damon, 25 October 2019

At a hearing Wednesday, Ocasio-Cortez demanded that Facebook “fact-check” political statements and “take down lies,” endorsing calls by the intelligence agencies for technology companies to censor the internet.

By Tom Peters, 30 September 2019

Jacinda Ardern met with world leaders and tech companies to promote a new “crisis response protocol” to rapidly remove online content deemed “extremist.”

By Kevin Reed, 11 September 2019

Instances of governments shutting down the Internet are on the rise in response to the growth of social conflict and protest, as well as the use of social media to organize political opposition.

DARPA requests proposals for “Semantic Forensics” system

By Kevin Reed, 6 September 2019

The Pentagon is seeking proposals from corporate technology partners for the development of an automated system that will censor “false media assets” and “disinformation.”

By Oscar Grenfell, 5 September 2019

The media silence is an act of political censorship, carried out in order to assist the US and British governments persecute WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange.

By Tania Kent, 30 August 2019

“This is Woke,” which describes itself as engaging “in critical discussions around Muslim identity, tradition and reform,” was created by a media company on behalf of the Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism at the Home Office.

By Oscar Grenfell, 27 August 2019

Morrison is campaigning for an international crackdown on social media, while his government asserts the right to ban websites and domains domestically.

By Oscar Grenfell, 21 August 2019

The company’s actions are part of a campaign, in collaboration with the US government and intelligence agencies, to censor unfavourable or adverse political content on social media.

By Kevin Reed, 17 August 2019

The Democrats are seeking to channel mass opposition to the wholesale invasion of privacy into a campaign to regulate and “equalize” facial recognition technology.

By Kevin Reed, 12 August 2019

The FBI is stepping up its campaign for a real-time social media alert tool to allow continuous surveillance of all social media activity across platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

By Kevin Reed, 27 July 2019

The settlement is part of a concerted effort by the US government to implement regulations and control over social media platforms.

By Mike Head, 25 July 2019

“I don’t think Chelsea was played at all,” Nancy Hollander told Australian television.

By Mike Head, 24 July 2019

The bills would hand governments the most authoritarian powers since the two world wars.

By Kevin Reed, 20 July 2019

The independent investigative journalism website Consortium News was brought down on Monday by a malware attack following the inaugural episode of CN Live!

By Mike Head, 13 July 2019

Unity4J, which campaigns against the persecution of the WikiLeaks founder, was given no reason for the suspension.

By Thomas Scripps, 6 July 2019

The new surveillance measures, known as a “ghost protocol,” would allow a government agent to “sit in” on ostensibly secure private conversations without other participants knowing.

By Kevin Reed, 5 July 2019

The new policy is a further expansion of Facebook’s censorship of left-wing and oppositional political views on its platforms.

By our reporters, 5 July 2019

Linda Tenenbaum, a longstanding leader of the SEP, indicted the Australian government and the political and media establishment for abandoning Assange, an Australia citizen.

By Kevin Reed, 3 July 2019

A Politico report has revealed that key National Security Council members have debated whether to ask Congress to pass laws that would make end-to-end encryption technologies illegal.

By Kevin Reed, 2 July 2019

Behind the recent report on the creation of an Oversight Board to oversee “content decisions” at Facebook is a plan for social media censorship in defense of the global capitalist system.

By the Socialist Equality Group (New Zealand), 25 June 2019

Support the SEG’s rally on Sunday July 14 as part of the international campaign to demand freedom for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and whistleblower Chelsea Manning.

By Kevin Reed, 24 June 2019

The lawsuit filed by New Sanctuary Coalition and other groups, says that ICE specifically targeted individuals for deportation, to suppress their political speech.

By Alex Lantier, 22 June 2019

The Parti de l’égalité socialiste calls on its supporters to share its material and support the freeing of journalist Julian Assange and whistleblower Chelsea Manning.

By Naveen Dewage, 19 June 2019

Colombo’s new laws to censor and control the internet and social media are moves towards the establishment of dictatorial forms of rule.

Creating the framework for government-directed online censorship

By Kevin Reed, 14 June 2019

A House subcommittee hearing on Tuesday began a major bipartisan drive for government-directed censorship of website and social media content.

By Will Morrow, 28 May 2019

The group is used to organize “yellow vest” demonstrations and to share news articles, political statements and videos of police violence.

Speech by Ulrich Rippert to London meeting

20 May 2019

We are publishing the speech of Ulrich Rippert, chairman of the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (Socialist Equality Party) in Germany, at the May 12 public meeting in London in defence of WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange and whistleblower Chelsea Manning.

By Tom Peters, 18 May 2019

New Zealand’s Labour Party-led government is heading international efforts to exploit the Christchurch terrorist attacks to ramp up restrictions on social media.

By Will Morrow, 16 May 2019

Under the banner of fighting terrorism, the social media giants and capitalist states are seeking to censor social media to banish left-wing and anti-war views.

Censorship in the guise of opposition to monopoly control

By Kevin Reed, 16 May 2019

The New York Times op-ed by Hughes is part of a campaign for government regulation of social media and technology corporations in order to step up censorship of left-wing political views.

By Johannes Stern, 14 May 2019

Ahead of the European elections on May 26, the ruling class aims to intensify internet censorship and silence critical viewpoints.

By Tom Peters, 11 May 2019

Alex Hills from Free Assange New Zealand condemned the British government’s “brazen hypocrisy” and called on the media to “end the smears and lies about an anti-war hero.”

By Kevin Reed, 4 May 2019

While the far-right has the backing of powerful factions of the state and the ruling class, the move by Facebook creates a precedent for the overt censorship of left-wing organizations.

“Today’s protest is a symbol of the fight for freedom”

By our reporters, 3 May 2019

WSWS reporters spoke to demonstrators outside Westminster Magistrates Court protesting plans to extradite the WikiLeaks founder to the US.

“Assange can only be defended by an international movement of the working class”

By Christoph Vandreier, 27 April 2019

Christoph Vandreier, Deputy National Secretary of the Socialist Equality Party in Germany and a candidate in the European elections, addressed a rally in front of the Ecuadorian embassy in Berlin in defense of the Wikileaks publisher.

By Mike Head, 26 April 2019

Confronted by worldwide protests and petitions, the British government felt compelled to grant the UN access to the imprisoned WikiLeaks founder.

By Mike Head, 20 April 2019

Peter Greste, once incarcerated by the US-backed Egyptian junta, is using his reputation as a victim of attacks on press freedom to support the Washington-led efforts to suppress WikiLeaks.

13 April 2019

Ulrich Rippert, the chairman of the Socialist Equality Party, addressed a rally in front of the British embassy in Berlin, Germany, demanding the freedom of WikiLeaks Publisher Julian Assange.

By Comment by John Pilger, 13 April 2019

John Pilger, well-known filmmaker and investigative journalist, issued the following statement on the arrest of WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange in the Ecuadorian embassy in London on April 11.

By Niles Niemuth, 12 April 2019

After nearly seven years of confinement to the Ecuadorian embassy in London, Assange now faces the possibility of a year in a UK prison and extradition to the United States.

By Bill Van Auken, 12 April 2019

The handing over of Assange to his British and US persecutors is part of a sharp drive to the right by the corruption-stained government of Lenín Moreno.

Statement of the World Socialist Web Site Editorial Board, 12 April 2019

The World Socialist Web Site emphatically condemns the forcible seizure and arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

Statement of the Socialist Equality Party (Australia), 6 April 2019

The Socialist Equality Party (Australia) condemns the stepped-up preparations to expel Julian Assange from London’s Ecuadorian embassy and to force him into the custody of the British police. WikiLeaks reported today that it has information, from a source in the Ecuadorian state, that Assange’s eviction from the building, where he sought asylum in 2012, will occur “within hours or days.”

By Mike Head, 4 April 2019

While nominally directed against the far-right, the bill will be used to step up the offensive against oppositional, left-wing and socialist postings.

By Justus Leicht and Johannes Stern, 27 March 2019

Two months before the European elections, the European Parliament has pushed through a directive to enforce the use of so-called upload filters in social media, thus further censoring the internet.

By Oscar Grenfell, 27 March 2019

The entire political establishment is seeking to cover up its responsibility for the fascist attack and exploit it to crack down on the democratic rights of ordinary people.

By Kevin Reed, 22 March 2019

The unsealed documents shine a light on the desperate measures to which the US government has resorted in pursuing a legal pretext to prosecute Julian Assange.

By Clara Weiss, 22 March 2019

The two laws are part of an international campaign by the ruling class to crack down on the internet.

the International Youth and Students for Social Equality at University of Michigan, 14 March 2019

The rally at the University of Michigan advanced an international strategy to mobilize youth, students and the broadest layers of the working class against the imprisonment of Chelsea Manning.

By Kevin Reed, 12 March 2019

The new vision for Facebook published by Mark Zuckerberg on March 6 is part of the response by the ruling elite to the role that social media is playing in the growth of class struggle internationally.

By Eddie Haywood, 9 March 2019

The government of President Yoweri Museveni, in power for three decades, regards social media with intense hostility and suspicion.