d a front row seat when it fell. I heard this first message in the nostalgic reminiscences of my grandparents and in between the harsh noises jamming the Voice of America. It grew louder during the Gorbachev era, as the state became more lenient in its treatment of dissidents, and reached a crescendo in the Estonian Si

d a front row seat when it fell. I heard this first message in the nostalgic reminiscences of my grandparents and in between the harsh noises jamming the Voice of America. It grew louder during the Gorbachev era, as the state became more lenient in its treatment of dissidents, and reached a crescendo in the Estonian Si

forthright commentary. Near the end of 2016, Congress passed legislation that placed the country’s government-supported interna- tional media outlets—Voice of America (VOA), Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), and their sister services focused on Asia and other regions—under more direct presidential control,

reign operations of China Global Television Network, China National Radio and China Radio International.” (It is not clear whether the parallel with the Voice of America was intentional.) Despite all of these efforts, President Xi still appears to be unsatisfied with the Party’s efforts to “grab the right to speak.”

ealing with this frustrating relationship for much of the past decade. Shortly after 9/11, in an effort to win Arab “hearts and minds” in the mold of the Voice of America and Radio Free Europe, the State Department poured hundreds of millions into a new public- diplomacy initiative, overseen by former ad executive Char

e censorship technology to create a moral Iron Dome against political and cultural subversion, with decidedly mixed results. Piped-in BBC Persian and Voice of America television are sometimes successfully scrambled, but those who want pornography have no shortage of outlets. That said, the censorship software somet