US to fund free speech initiatives in Europe, State Department says

The Trump administration will ‌fund efforts to promote free speech within Western countries allied with Washington, a senior State Department official said ‍on Monday during a visit to Europe focused on pushing back against European regulations that US officials have branded censorship.US officials have forcefully opposed online rules such as the EU’s Digital Services Act and Britain’s Online Safety Act, which Washington says stifle free speech, and in particular criticism of immigration policies, while imposing ⁠burdensome requirements on US tech companies. Advocates argue these rules combat hateful speech, misinformation and disinformation online.Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy Sarah Rogers, who has emerged as a lead figure in this push, will discuss freedom of speech and digital freedom with officials and others on her trip to Dublin, Budapest, Warsaw and Munich, the State Department said.“One way my office is going to ‍operate differently is we’re going to be very forthright and transparent about everything we do,” Rogers said during a panel discussion in Budapest, Hungary ‍on Monday, emphasising that her role carries the power to direct US funding through grants.“I want to promote free speech in Western allied democracies, and ... that’s what my grant making is going to be doing.”A ‌Financial Times report last week cited sources with knowledge of the matter saying Rogers had discussed a plan to fund think tanks and charities aligned with US President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” policies with members of the far-right ‍Reform UK Party.