US Guts $500M+ Internet Freedom Program, Per Leaked Docs
The US has effectively dismantled the program funding tools that help people bypass state internet censorship.
The United States has "effectively gutted" its Internet Freedom program, according to sources and documents obtained by The Guardian. The program has distributed more than $500 million since 2016 to organizations building technology designed to help people circumvent oppressive government internet controls.
The program funded groups developing anti-censorship tools — the kind of tech that lets users in authoritarian regimes slip past digital walls and access the open internet. That pipeline is now under serious threat.
The implications are stark. Without sustained funding, the organizations behind these circumvention tools face an uncertain future. Many operate on thin margins and depend heavily on this exact type of government backing.
For millions of users living under state-controlled internet regimes, this isn't an abstract policy debate. It's about whether the tools they rely on to reach the free web will keep working.