Reporters Without Borders launches site for censored content

Reporters Without Borders has announced the launch of a website which will be used to post content that has either been "censored or banned or has given rise to reprisals against its creator" in a bid to "make censorship obsolete".

The website, called WeFightCensorship (WeFC), features a "digital safe" where users can anonymously send content to be considered for publication.

According to the site, which is available in both French and English, this safe is "designed to help contributors protect their anonymity when transmitting files".

"We nonetheless also urge them to secure their internet connection by using a VPN or an anonymisation tool such as Tor, I2P or Psiphon," the press freedom group adds.

Content – which can be in written form or a video, piece of audio or photo – will not be uploaded automatically, the site explains, with approval first required from an editorial committee.

"The content selected by the WeFC editorial committee will be accompanied by a description of the context and creator. It may also be accompanied by copies of documents relating to the proceedings under which it was banned or other documents that might help the public to understand its importance."

The group added that the site has been "designed to be easily duplicated and mirror versions will be created in order to thwart attempts to filter or block it".

The site will also build a "digital survival kit" which will aim to "provide everyone with the means to resist censors, governments or interests groups that want to control news and information and gag dissenting voices."

According to Reporters Without Borders the site is funded by the European Union's European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights.

In February another press freedom group, the Committee to Protect Journalists, called for a "global coalition" between media, governments, business sectors and "civil society organisations" against censorship.

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