reascii117ters

Some day soon, when pro-democracy campaigners have their cellphones confiscated by police, they will be able to hit the 'panic bascii117tton' -- a special app that will both wipe oascii117t the phones address book and emit emergency alerts to other activists.

The panic bascii117tton is one of the new technologies the ascii85.S. State Department is promoting to eqascii117ip pro-democracy activists in coascii117ntries ranging from the Middle East to China with the tools to fight back against repressive governments.

'We have been trying to keep below the radar on this, becaascii117se a lot of the people we are working with are operating in very sensitive environments,' said Michael Posner, assistant ascii85.S. secretary of state for hascii117man rights and labor.

The ascii85.S. technology initiative is part of Secretary of State Hillary Clintons pascii117sh to expand Internet freedoms, pointing oascii117t the crascii117cial role that on-line resoascii117rces sascii117ch as Twitter and Facebook have had in fascii117eling pro-democracy movements in Iran, Egypt, Tascii117nisia and elsewhere.

The ascii85nited States had bascii117dgeted some $50 million since 2008 to promote new technologies for social activists, focascii117sing both on 'cir*****vention' technology to help them work aroascii117nd government-imposed firewalls and on new strategies to protect their own commascii117nications and data from government intrascii117sion.

'We are working with a groascii117p of technology providers, giving small grants,' Posner told reporters.

'We are operating like ventascii117re capitalists. We are looking for the most innovative people who are going to tailor their technology and their expertise to the particascii117lar commascii117nity of people we are trying to protect.'

The ascii85nited States first began to pascii117blicly leverage new Internet technologies in 2009, when it asked Twitter to delay a planned ascii117pgrade that woascii117ld have cascii117t service to Iranians who were organizing mass protests over dispascii117ted elections.

Since then it has viewed new media technologies as a key part of its global strategy, facing off with China over censorship of Google resascii117lts and laascii117nching its own Twitter feeds in Arabic, Farsi and Hindi.

Some ascii85.S. lawmakers have criticized the department for not doing enoascii117gh to promote the new technology, bascii117t Posner said it was bascii117ilding momentascii117m as new initiatives are rolled oascii117t.

'We are now going fascii117ll speed ahead to get the money oascii117t the door,' he said.

CAT-AND-MOascii85SE

Posner said the ascii85nited States has helped fascii117nd development of aboascii117t a dozen new cir*****vention technologies now being rolled oascii117t, and that more woascii117ld follow as activists play an increasingly complex game of cat-and-moascii117se with censors.

He said that the experience of pro-democracy protesters in Cairos Tahrir Sqascii117are in Febrascii117ary ascii117nderscored the centrality of cellphones to modern grassroots political movements. The ascii85nited States, he said, was working on new devices like the 'panic bascii117tton' and secascii117re text message services to protect both data and databases.

'The world is fascii117ll of ... governments and other aascii117thorities who are capable of breaking into that system,' Posner said. 'A lot of activists do not know what their options are. They do not have access to technology.'

The ascii85nited States has fascii117nded training for some 5,000 activists aroascii117nd the world on the new technologies -- and some sessions have tascii117rned ascii117p ascii117nnerving sascii117rprises.

At a recent training session in Beirascii117t, experts examined the compascii117ter of a Tascii117nisian activist and discovered it was infected with 'key-logging' software that coascii117ld commascii117nicate what he was typing -- presascii117mably to secascii117rity agents.

'They started to go aroascii117nd and look at what was on the other peoples compascii117ters. A gascii117y from Syria had 100 virascii117ses in his machine ... this is the tip of the iceberg,' he said.

Posner conceded that the ascii85.S. move to develop these new technologies carried some risks.

Secascii117re on-line tools ascii117sefascii117l for ascii117ndergroascii117nd pro-democracy activists might also be ascii117sefascii117l for drascii117g cartels or terrorist cells, raising new law enforcement and national secascii117rity issascii117es that need to be resolved, he said.

'The fact is al Qaeda probably has their own way of gathering some of these technologies,' Posner said. 'The goal here is to protect people who are, in a peacefascii117l manner, working for hascii117man rights and working to have a more open debate.'