Exclusive: US to Launch Portal to Bypass EU Bans
The U.S. State Department is working on an online portal that will allow individuals in Europe and elsewhere to view material prohibited by their regimes such as so-called hate speech and terrorist propaganda, a step Washington considers a method of fighting censorship, three sources conversant with the project said.
The location will be based on freedom.gov, according to the sources. According to one source, the officials have decided to add a virtual private network feature that will cause user traffic to appear as being located in the U.S., and there will be no tracking of site usage.
Led by Undersecretary of Public Diplomacy Sarah Rogers, the project was set to be rolled out last week at the Munich Security Conference, but was delayed, the sources indicated.
Reuters has not been able to find out why the launch did not occur, but some State Department officials, including lawyers, have commented on the plan. Two sources said they had concerns about the proposal but did not elaborate.
US Portal Aims to Counter Global Censorship
The project could further strain relations between the Trump administration and traditional U.S. allies in Europe, which are already tense over trade disputes, Russia’s war in Ukraine, and President Donald Trump’s controversial statements about Greenland.
The portal may also place Washington in an uncomfortable position by appearing to encourage citizens to violate local laws. A Reuters report said the U.S. government has no specific censorship circumvention program targeting Europe, though digital freedom remains a priority.
A State Department spokesperson denied that the announcement had been postponed and rejected claims that department lawyers objected to the plan. The spokesperson emphasized that digital freedom includes promoting privacy tools and censorship circumvention technologies such as VPNs.
One key area of the Trump administration’s foreign policy focus has been free speech, particularly in Europe and Brazil. Officials argue that conservative voices are being unfairly restricted on online platforms.
Growing Free Speech Debate Between US and EU
The approach to free speech in Europe differs significantly from that of the United States, where the Constitution broadly protects expression. The European Union has expanded its legal boundaries to curb extremist propaganda and hate speech.
EU regulators frequently require U.S.-based platforms to remove content and may impose bans as a last resort. In December, Elon Musk’s platform X was fined 120 million euros for noncompliance with EU regulations.
In Germany in 2024, the government issued 482 removal orders for content considered to support or incite terrorism. Authorities also requested providers to remove more than 16,000 pieces of content.
Similarly, in 2024, Meta’s oversight board ordered the deletion of posts by a Polish political party that used racial slurs and portrayed immigrants as criminals, content deemed illegal under EU hate speech laws.
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Rising Friction With European Regulators
Sarah Rogers has emerged as a vocal supporter of the Trump administration’s stance on EU content policies. Since taking office in October, she has visited several European countries and met with right-wing groups the administration says face suppression.
In its National Security Strategy released in December, the Trump administration criticized European migration policies. The document suggested the U.S. would support opposition movements challenging Europe’s current political direction.
Critics argue the proposed freedom.gov portal would be viewed in Europe as an attempt to undermine national laws. Former State Department official Kenneth Propp described the plan as a direct challenge to European digital regulations.
Propp, now with the Atlantic Council Europe Center, said European governments would likely see the initiative as an effort by Washington to bypass and frustrate domestic legal frameworks governing online content.