Report: US eyes sanctions on tech used vs. rebels

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama on Monday will announce a plan to impose sanctions against foreign entities that help authoritative regimes use technology to crack down on dissidents, The Washington Post reported Sunday.

Obama will announce the executive order during a speech at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Post reported, citing senior administration officials.

While rebellions in countries like Libya and Egypt have been fueled by cellphones and social media, other regimes have used technology to track dissidents or block Internet access.

For example, Iran has provided the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad with technology to jam cellphones and block or monitor the social networking sites rebels would use to organize demonstrations.

The White House officials also told the Post that Obama has asked the U.S. intelligence community to include assessments of the likelihood of mass killings in its National Intelligence Estimates.

Obama will announce a set of "challenge" grants for companies that help create new technology to help warn citizens in countries where mass killings may occur, the newspaper reported.