I like the idea, but I will not support the use of nginx.
On the second point, I vary between Caddy and Traefik, depending on the use case.
All 3 of these are open source on github with widely used code bases that are free to view and read as you want.
I'll admit that the open source nature limits the damage a state actor can do, though.
If you are going to go full paranoid, you can't pretend that the media is 100% trueful at every aspect, especially when it comes to internal US affairs.
Also, while every media source is biased, if you review enough angles on a given story, you can arrive at some semblance of a true account.