Report: US has stopped funding technology against internet blockades
With more than 500 million US dollars, the USA has supported IT projects to protect internet freedom over ten years, according to a report. This is now over.
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The United States, under Donald Trump, has ended funding for various projects against internet censorship and blockades, which for some may mean the end. This is reported by The Guardian, citing its own research. According to the report, it concerns a program that has distributed significantly more than 500 million US dollars to such projects over ten years, away from public eyes, with 94 million US dollars flowing in 2024 alone. In 2025, there was at least no money through the main awarding body. The Guardian does not specify which projects are affected. For most, it is too risky to admit that they receive money from the US government. The newspaper cites the Signal messenger and the Tor Browser as examples.
Help against authoritarian regimes
According to the report, the program was carried out by the US Department of State and the United States Agency for Global Media, the latter having fallen victim to the drastic austerity measures of DOGE. It did not have a specific name; it was generally referred to as "Internet Freedom". The money flowed to small groups around the world who worked on technology to circumvent state internet controls. The Guardian names Myanmar, China, the Philippines, and Iran as examples. In the Islamic Republic, the regime has just brutally suppressed massive demonstrations and subsequently imposed a weeks-long internet blockade to prevent information from leaking out.
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For those affected, the cessation of financial support is a severe blow, the Guardian quotes an anonymous expert: "I would like to live in a world where a single US program doesn't play such a crucial role, but that was the case." Some projects have reacted with layoffs, others are continuing without pay, hoping that money will flow again in the future. Currently, everyone is just waiting, an activist from Iran has summarized the situation. However, there is partly hope that money from Europe could fill the gap in the future, and applications have been submitted in this regard. However, it still looks like it will become easier for governments to block the internet.
(mho)
