Suggested song to listen to while reading this post (from theta.’s Weekly YouTube Playlist):
theta. is honored to be chosen by USAGM’s Office of Engineering and Technical Services (OETS) and Office of Internet Freedom (OIF) to support USAGM as a part of their Internet Censorship Circumvention Tools Basic Ordering Agreement (BOA).
Not far off from a Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA), companies selected for the Internet Censorship Circumvention Tools BOA are available to the Office of Internet Freedom (OIF) to help ensure that USAGM journalists and audiences have the tools they need right now to safely access the uncensored internet, while also allowing them to invest in innovative solutions to stay ahead of evolving censorship threats.?
In collaboration with industry, USAGM’s Internet Freedom program works to advance Internet freedom in the world’s most closed and repressive environments by supporting the research, development, and implementation of novel technologies that facilitate the free flow of information, increase at-risk users’ digital security, and help to enable free expression.
Around the world, repressive state actors are doubling down on their commitment to curtailing what their citizens see, read, share, and watch online. This daily suppression of freedom of expression limits all citizens’ ability to take full advantage of the powerful communication platform that the internet has become. theta. hopes to use our representative engineering approach to be of service to USAGM, helping them shape the internet as a platform that respects fundamental human rights and reinforces core democratic values.
“Work like the kind OIF is focused on directly aligns with the type of world we envision at theta: a world where ideas and information are free, safe, and accessible to everyone who wants them. ‘Inclusion matters’ is a mantra we try to embody at theta, so any mission targeting bad actors trying to repress inclusion of any kind will always resonate with us,” said theta. founder and MMBR Emmanuel “Mannie” Iroanya.
By choosing theta. as a partner, USAGM will have streamlined the process of rapidly building, testing, delivering, or obtaining Internet censorship circumvention digital services relating to state-of-the-art tools and specialized open-source software and systems for circumventing Internet censorship by foreign governments.
*Note: This announcement was published independently of the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM). This release does not constitute or imply an endorsement by USAGM or the United States Government of the product, process, service, or its producer or provider. The views and opinions of any referenced document do not necessarily state or reflect USAGM or the United States Government.*
