Your Domain Can Be Seized for “Misinformation”
The US continues seizing domains under the grounds of “misinformation”, one of many routes that it can take your domain(s) without due process, or at least not an independent one. Last month the US seized domains relating to Iranian news outlets, whose stories were likely not aligned with US media outlets. They did the same thing in 2020. In theory, both the US and Iranian websites could have misinformation or competing views on an event or subject, just as you could find non-aligned views on almost any subject on the internet. But does one government’s position or policy mean that any domain which does not support that position should be seized? I would suggest this is now the clear precedent that has been established and it does not need to limit itself to news or politics, since of course “misinformation” could be as simple as trade stats or if a Canadian company posts that they have the best lumber in North America, for example. If the US says that they have the best lumber and best aluminum, then the Canadian website has now posted “misinformation” which is solely determined by how the US sees things, even if there are is objective data to suggest the US position is in fact “misinformation”.
Misinformation has certainly been posted on other news websites that the US controls and we even have op-eds of CNN calling out Fox News for misinformation, but of course, none of their domains were seized. The issue with the US controlling Verisign and related domains like .com, .net, .org is that they are now the sole arbiter of who can stay online.
It’s one thing if a US platform is ordered to censor content that is offensive to the US government, my advice is normally “get our own domain”. But generally, there was a belief that the easiest path for domain seizures was just an allegation of cybercrime. Now, we’ve moved to an era that the US just has to disagree with information that is on a website and it can be seized just like that. I would not be surprised if we see an escalation and more bold moves in trade wars. They can take down the domains of foreign companies who are deemed to be competing too much with US interests or they may even make that a grounds for domain seizure. The easiest way that I predict will happen is that the US takes a position like the tradewar and just deems “abc-non-us-company.com” as a national security threat.
There is a solution though, and it’s to use non-US based registrar’s and domains. In the case of Iran, they were able to stay online with their own country’s .ir domain, this is going to be the increasingly common way for companies to hedge themselves against frivolous domain seizures. I am not suggesting everyone get an .ir domain but it should be a domain that is neutral and from a strong country, such as an .hk from Hong Kong, China or any other jurisdiction which is not under the control or influence of the US.
We’re now in an era that if a website has “information” that is out of line with US policy or narratives, it is now “misinformation”; and there is the genuine possibility that they can seize your domain at any point. It’s more important than ever for individuals, organizations and businesses to have a proper plan of which domain to use and where to host their data, as US policy and actions are changing fast, impacting nearly every company and person around the world.
I made this video months ago, speaking about other routes that the US uses to steal domains:
Iranian Website Seizures: Are There Other Misinformation Sources?
