Office of Internet Freedom

The Office of Internet Freedom (OIF) within the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), $13.8M oversees the efforts of USAGM-funded Internet Freedom (IF) projects, including the FY19 INTERNET work carried out by the Open Technology Fund (OTF), a USAGM-nonprofit grantee and FREEDOM BUDGET a division of Radio Free Asia. In coordination with OTF, OIF manages and supports the research, development, deployment, and use of USAGM-funded IF technologies via third party contractors.

2016 Consistent with the USAGM’s mission to inform, engage, and connect people OIF ESTABLISHED around the world in support of freedom and democracy, OIF provides appropriate Absorbing the Internet anti-censorship technologies and services to citizens and journalists living in Anti-Censorship Division, established in 2002 repressive environments. OIF also supports global education and awareness of IF matters, enhancing users’ ability to safely access and share digital news and information without fear of repressive censorship or surveillance.

2012 USAGM EXPANSION AND COLLABORATION OTF ESTABLISHED OIF collaborates with other federal government entities, including the U.S. State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), to combat censorship and surveillance activities by repressive regimes around the world. OIF is seeking to forge similar relationships with private and nonprofit sector entities.

Internet Freedom in 2018

RUSSIA

IRAN CHINA CUBA

Free

Partly free

Not free

Not a USAGM audience or not assessed by Freedom House

Based on Fredom House 2018 Freedom on the Net report https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-net/freedom-net-2018/map CURRENT PROJECTS

MOBILE governments with customized versions to more than 40 countries including in Iran, Psiphon Mobile App is a mobile version promote USAGM broadcast services. Venezuela, Vietnam, Tibet, Philippines, Pakistan, and Uganda. of Psiphon’s anti-censorship virtual private NoScript is a popular privacy and security network (VPN) software that enables enhancing browser extension for Mozilla CLOUD SERVICES unfettered Internet access to citizens of Firefox and is pre-installed in the Tahoe-LAFS: This project seeks to address repressive governments, as well as appli- Browser. NoScript increases the safety of the threats to information at rest and cation program interface (API) access to online browsing by restricting the use of shared within the organization by deploy- allow integration of Psiphon’s circumven- online content often misused by repressive ing Tahoe-LAFS, which offers secure file tion layer into apps deployed by USAGM actors to either track an individual’s storage and sharing capabilities. Ultimately, broadcasters. Internet usage or to compromise their the project also seeks to make it easier computer via in-browser scripts. nthLink is a powerful anti-censorship for more organizations to deploy the tool mobile application capable of circumventing Mailvelope is a browser extension that themselves. Internet censorship and self-recovering brings the privacy and security of PGP Tor Node distribution in LatAm: Many from blocking events. Most importantly, to webmail clients for services internet users in Latin America rely on it incorporates strong encryption to such as Gmail, Yahoo! and others while the Tor network to guarantee their privacy protect the information flow between also being configurable for use on private and to circumvent censorship online. the consumer and the source. email servers that offer a web client Since most of the Tor network nodes are in experience. Delta Chat is a new, unique messaging the Global North today, this project aims application that functions like any text EVALUATION AND REPORTING to set up more in the region and grow the messaging tool but is built with an email Tor user base in order to make the Tor Red Team Lab provides independent backend, enabling enhanced user privacy network stronger and safer. This project technology audits to internet freedom and security with end-to-end encryption will also help building a stronger technical projects to verify any security or privacy via Autocrypt. Delta Chat is novel in that it community of people working around claims offered to the public. does not require a phone number, has no privacy and anonymity in Latin America. central server, and has email anonymity Adversary Lab is a new real-time analysis Eclipis.is As part of the OTF Engineering potential, offering resilience to surveillance engine that can analyze captured network Lab, internet freedom projects can request that is vital for users in repressive contexts. traffic to extract statistical properties and access to a secure cloud infrastructure in determine their ability to evade censors. K-9 Mail is the most widely used encrypted order to research, develop, and deploy email platform for Android, with between Ukraine Censorship Monitoring: This their tools and services in secure and 5 and 10 million downloads and availability project will utilize the Open Observatory of strategically located environments around in more than 30 languages. Network Interference (OONI) to document the globe. this blocking and shed light on the extent NewNode is the first decentralized peer- GlobaLeaks is an open-source secure of censorship occurring within the country. to-peer content delivery protocol, enabling submission framework, allowing media This work will be carried out by establish- data distribution free from censorship, organizations, activist groups, corporations ing a sustainable system of monitoring spying, and attack. NewNode’s software and public agencies to set up their own and measuring the Internet censorship in development kit (SDK) is now being used secure whistleblowing platform. The all parts of Ukraine — including occupied by USAGM’s mobile apps. platform is secure while maintaining Crimea and the occupied Donbas region usability for average users, empowering DESKTOP through the use of local monitors. anyone to easily set up and maintain a Psiphon is an open source web-based Rapid Response Funds have assisted GlobaLeaks instance. proxy and desktop client anti-censorship journalists and other targeted actors that VPN software that enables unfettered are subject to digital attacks carried out by Internet access to citizens of repressive repressive governments or their proxies in

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