Internet Freedom Fund
Have an idea for an innovative technology or research project that helps people facing repressive censorship and/or surveillance?
Apply now
Get Support
Funds
Two-thirds of the world’s population—nearly 5.5 billion people—live in a country where the global internet is censored.
Why we fund
Evolving threats, evolving community needs
And this number is only increasing as authoritarian governments around the world are harnessing technological advances to increase the scale, scope, and efficiency of digital repression.
As a result, we see increasingly sophisticated challenges to protect internet freedom, and see evolving community needs:
- the constant evolution of repressive censorship and surveillance tactics
- growing demand for anti-censorship tools
- secure, privacy-enhancing technology to counter surveillance
- shutdown-resilient tools that help people stay connected
- rapid digital security support for at-risk communities
- under-funding and under-support for the FOSS ecosystem
We fund technical solutions to address these and more.
Funding options
Check out the funding options below to learn more
Rapid Response Fund
Facing a clear, time-sensitive, state-sponsored digital emergency and need short-term, urgent digital security support?
Apply now
Surge and Sustain Fund
Need support for user costs for your large-scale, open source VPN or anti-censorship tool to respond to demand in repressive information contexts?
Learn more
Free and Open Source Software Sustainability Fund
Does your project idea support the long-term maintainability, interoperability, reproducibility, security, and resilience of the internet freedom technology ecosystem?
Learn more
Information Controls Research
Interested in researching the technical orchestration of repressive information controls and the methods to combat it?
Learn more
Applicant Guidebook
Our Applicant Guidebook can help you with the application process.
Read the guidebook
Is your project a fit?
Do you have a project that fits within the following areas?
- Applied research to better understand where and how censorship is occurring, and the technical methods to combat it
- Development & deployment of anti-censorship and privacy-enhancing technologies
- Emergency, short-term digital security support for human rights defenders, journalists, and civil society groups
- Long-term maintenance of established, free, and open source software projects underpinning the open, global internet
- Sustaining large-scale, open source, anti-censorship tools operating in highly repressive contexts
- Systemic improvements to the digital security ecosystem
- Technology-focused convenings that empower internet freedom communities to collaborate and share knowledge
At a glance
How each fund works
Internet Freedom Fund
This fund supports innovative internet freedom projects, including technology development, research, digital security projects, and convenings.
Applications to the Fund go through a two-stage application process and are accepted on a rolling basis.
Awards are between $10,000 and $900,000 for up to 24 months. Ideal applicants seek funding between $50,000 and $200,000 for efforts between 6 and 12 months.
Rapid Response Fund
The Rapid Response Fund aims to resolve threats in a timely manner for individuals, communities, and organizations facing digital attacks and emergencies. We offer both direct financial support and technical services to those at high-risk, such as activists, journalists, and human rights defenders.
Surge and Sustain Fund
The Surge and Sustain Fund supports the user carrying costs of established, large-scale circumvention technologies so that tens of millions of people in China, Cuba, Iran, Myanmar, Russia, and other authoritarian contexts can securely and reliably access the uncensored internet.
Apply by October 15, 2026.
FOSS Sustainability Fund
The Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) Sustainability Fund is Open Technology Fund’s mechanism to support the maintenance, interoperability, reproducibility, and resilience of the internet freedom technology ecosystem. Not currently accepting applications.
Ready to apply?
Our Applicant Guidebook can help you with the application process
Read the guidebook, then start your application.