Obama’s CIA Director Plots Global Censorship

Over the last few months, we have documented the global backlash to the Censorship Industrial Complex, culminating in a series of major political and institutional defeats for its architects. In the United States, Donald Trump’s election marked a decisive repudiation of state-sponsored censorship, followed swiftly by executive orders cutting off federal funding for so-called “misinformation” initiatives, including National Science Foundation grants. Trump also cut funding for USAID, a key funder of international censorship networks, and threatened to restrict travel to the US by foreign nationals involved in speech suppression efforts abroad. And last year, Australia rejected sweeping online censorship laws, while Ireland’s government shelved its hate speech legislation after fierce public opposition.

But now, the Censorship Industrial Complex is regrouping around the world, plotting a return to power.

Yesterday, Brazil’s Supreme Court moved to expand its authority over online speech by forcing platforms to preemptively censor content it labels as “hate speech” or “anti-democratic,” terms that are so vague that they could be used to punish even mild criticism of government officials. The Court also ruled that platforms will be held jointly liable for posts retroactively deemed illegal, pressuring them to act as private censors and remove content by default. Left-wing activist groups can exploit this system by flooding platforms with takedown demands, creating a para-state censorship regime.

Also yesterday, and the day before, the former CIA Director under President Barack Obama, John Brennan, joined a closed-door meeting of the Law Society of Ireland’s Centre for Justice and Law Reform alongside other figures with deep ties to law enforcement and intelligence networks. The gathering made clear that Western security elites are actively coordinating efforts to rebrand and revive the censorship agenda under the banner of legal reform, even as public backlash has slowed their progress elsewhere.