WASHINGTON, October 3 (RIA Novosti) - Special programs promoting internet freedom trigger negative reaction from governments, which means that these programs are effective, Eric Nelson, director of the State Department office of eDiplomacy told RIA Novosti on Friday.
"In general, internet freedom is a very important priority for American foreign policy," Nelson said at a Friday conference on mobile technology and diplomacy.
The State Department put a TechCamp program into action, which has been met with government opposition.
"We did one a few years back in Ukraine... [It] created a good bit of opposition from governments that felt threatened. So if certain elements of the government felt threatened, we may be doing something right by promoting freedom to do that," he added.
The US State Department claims TechCamps are aimed at training civil society in technologies to build social networks and create new mediums for communication.
Nelson was asked about various countries' concerns about threats of subversion through internet activities, including threats to the United States by the Islamic State terrorist group.
In response, he argued that the office of eDiplomacy focuses on "how do we utilize the freedoms that are available on the internet to generate change, especially in democracy around the world."
The State Department with the help of the US Embassy in Kiev held a series of the so-called "TechCamps" over the past two years to train social activists in Ukraine. Similar workshops are regularly held in other states and often coincide with epicenters of revolutions and unrest.
A TechCamp in Warsaw last October was attended by representatives of Polish NGOs and "socially active students from Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia and Belarus."
Various international experts believe that such organizations meddle in domestic affairs of other countries, and may even be used to stage revolutions.
