Under § 501 of the Smith–Mundt Act of 1948, the Voice of America was forbidden to broadcast directly to American citizens until July 2013.[34] The intent of the legislation was to protect the American public from propaganda actions by its own government.[35] Although VOA does not broadcast domestically, Americans can access the programs through shortwaveand streaming audio over the Internet. 就是說,在美國本土大名鼎鼎的VOA是不能直接對國民廣播的。不僅如此,其他官方電視報紙在美國本土也找不到。