Updated Jul 17, 2021 - Politics & Policy

1M Cubans use U.S. software to skirt government's social media blackouts

Erin Doherty

Cubans participate in an act of revolutionary reaffirmation to support the government of President Miguel Diaz-Canel in Havana, on July 17, 2021 — Cubans participate in an act of revolutionary reaffirmation to support the government of President Miguel Diaz-Canel in Havana, on July 17. Photo: YAMIL LAGE/AFP via Getty Images

More than 1 million people in Cuba every day are using an anti-censorship tool supported by the U.S. government to circumvent their own government's social media blackouts, Bloomberg reports.

The big picture: Censorship-circumvention software company Psiphon Inc. has facilitated the transfer of over 600 terabytes of data from users in Cuba since Sunday, per Bloomberg.

Psiphon receives funding from the Open Technology Fund, a U.S. government nonprofit that supports global internet freedom technologies.

Driving the news: Cuba limited access to some social media and messaging apps following anti-government protests that started last Sunday Axios' Ina Fried reports.

President Biden said Thursday that the United States is looking into whether it is able to restore internet access that was shut down by the Cuban government.

Of note: Tens of thousands took to the streets on Saturday in a counter-protest in support of the government, AP reports. Both President Miguel Díaz-Canel and 90-year-old former President Raul Castro appeared.

Go deeper: Open Technology Fund sues administration for $20M in missing funds

Editor's note: This story has been updated throughout.

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1M Cubans use U.S. software to skirt government's social media blackouts

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