Internet Freedom program

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The Internet Freedom program is a program run by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL). Its goal is to promote fundamental freedoms, human rights, and the free flow of information online, through integrated support for anti-censorship and secure communications technology, advocacy, digital safety, and research. [1]

The U.S. government started funding internet freedom activities in the early 2000s, mostly initially focused on helping people bypass firewalls in countries such as China and Iran. In 2008, the Department of State launched its Internet Freedom program, funding internet freedom as a part of its global human rights agenda, with the goal of "ensur[ing] that any child, born anywhere in the world, has access to the global Internet as an open platform on which to innovate, learn, organize, and express herself free from undue interference or censorship." [2]

Between 2008 and 2010, the DRL gave out $15 million to fund the development of new tools aimed at supporting freedom of expression by enabling the circumvention of politically motivated censorship and technological barriers to secure person-to-person communications. [3]

In January 2010, in a speech at the Newseum, then-U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced new foreign policy promoting and supporting internet freedom. [4]

In 2014, the program offered up to $2.5 million in funding. [5] In 2015, the program again offered up to $2.5 million in funding. [6]

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References

  1. ↑ "Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL) Internet Freedom Annual Program Statement". Federal Grants. Federal Grants. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
  2. ↑ "Portfolio Assessment of the Department of State Internet Freedom Program" (PDF).
  3. ↑ Posner, Michael. "Michael Posner: Global Internet Freedom and the Rule of Law, Part II". HumanRights.gov. The Office of Policy Planning and Public Diplomacy. Archived from the original on 5 September 2015. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
  4. ↑ Hanson, Fergus (25 October 2012). "Internet Freedom: The Role of the U.S. State Department". Brookings Institution. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
  5. ↑ "Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL) Internet Freedom Annual Program Statement". Federal Grants. Federal Grants. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
  6. ↑ "Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Request for Statements of Interest DRL FY15 Internet Freedom Annual Program Statement". DoResearch. Stanford University. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
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