@opentechfund.bsky.social's Security Lab partner 7ASecurity’s recent audit of AmneziaVPN found that the #OpenSource tool is securely designed. Learn more and access the full report: buff.ly/IkxOUPj

@opentechfund.bsky.social's Security Lab partner 0xche's recent audit of Mailvelope found that the #OpenSource tool is securely designed. Learn more and access the full audit report: buff.ly/SUI6Rwb

An op-ed in @thedispatchmedia.bsky.social by former Congressional staffer Grant Mullins tells the history of how Rep. McCaul & Sen. Blackburn championed the Open Technology Fund Authorization Act -- and what we've been able to accomplish since its enactment. thedispatch.com/article/open...

"Users have a false sense of security because a nation-state threat actor can see everything the users of these products are doing," @opentechfund.sky.social-supported Benjamin Mixon-Baca to @news.dw.com on privacy & security issues he found in widely-used commercial VPNs. buff.ly/niulhHM

“This is very frightening,” @interseclab.bsky.social's Marla Rivera explained the technical details of new @opentechfund.bsky.social - supported research into Geedge Networks’ censorship and surveillance technologies to @wired.com.

ICYM: @opentechfund.bsky.social-supported research from Ben Mixon-Baca sheds light on the egregious transparency and security vulnerabilities of 16 commercial VPN apps linked to the CCP that put more than 700 million users at risk of authoritarian surveillance. www.opentech.fund/news/who-own...

New @opentechfund.bsky.social-supported research from @interseclab.bsky.social and partners uncovers how Chinese company Geedge Networks is exporting a comprehensive, turnkey surveillance and censorship system worldwide. Learn more: buff.ly/R7FJAyD

New research from @opentechfund.bsky.social-supported @interseclab.bsky.social & partners uncovers how a Chinese company exports tools for mass & precision surveillance & censorship—transforming how quickly & easily states can control digital communications (1/2). interseclab.org/wp-content/u...

As part of a consortium of researchers and journalists, I spent the better part of a year digging into leaked documents from Chinese security company Geedge, which plays a pivotal role exporting the Great Firewall around the world: www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/15c699a...

We gave a interview about our new research The Internet Coup to @wired.com. Check their article on www.wired.com/story/geedge...

New Research: Our investigation indicates that the Chinese company Geedge Networks is exporting mass surveillance and censorship technology to Myanmar, Pakistan, Kazakhstan and Ethiopia. #GreatFirewallExport (1/5)

@opentechfund.bsky.social’s Security Lab partner Radically Open Security’s recent audit of Tails found that the operating system is well designed from a security perspective. Learn more and access the full report: buff.ly/0Vnda8P

New research from @opentechfund.bsky.social’s ICFP Fellow Benjamin Mixon-Baca includes analysis of 16 commercial VPN apps that are popular in authoritarian contexts. Learn about their suspicious operations, security vulnerabilities, and more: www.opentech.fund/news/who-own...

@opentechfund.bsky.social’s Security Lab partner Radically Open Security’s recent audit of @ooni.org found that their services and architecture are securely designed. Learn more and access the full report: www.opentech.fund/security-saf...

@chinafile.bsky.social’s Jessica Batke and @whiskeyocelot.bsky.social, authors of a new report that reshapes our understanding of Chinese censorship, spoke to the @washingtonpost.com about how the “Locknet” works. www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...

I talked to @washingtonpost.com for this piece on China's digital ID system. It's a great example of two key features of the Locknet: 1) different aspects of the censorship system reinforce each other, and 2) pushing the policeman into citizens heads. wapo.st/4kBkkEc

"In practice, online censorship in China functions more like a massive water management system: an amalgamation of canals and locks that regulates what flows, through which particular channels, and at what times." locknet.chinafile.com/the-locknet/...

I highly recommend this piece on internet censorship in China by Jessica Batke and ‪@whiskeyocelot.bsky.social‬ locknet.chinafile.com/the-locknet/... Whether you're an expert on the topic or completely new to it, I can guarantee you will come away with a better understanding.

Amazing work here. One of the smartest and most comprehensive reports ever done on Chinese censorship -- a topic that's going to become so much more relevant as DeepSeek and other Chinese LLMs continue to grab territory

New @opentechfund.bsky.social-supported research reshapes our understanding of Chinese censorship. It's not simply a "firewall," it's a "locknet"—a dynamic, multi-layered system of total information control.

Supported by @opentechfund.bsky.social: @chinafile.bsky.social’s Jessica Batke & @whiskeyocelot.bsky.social explain that Chinese censorship isn’t simply a “firewall, but a “locknet” – a multi-level system of socio-technical controls. (1/4) locknet.chinafile.com/the-locknet/...

@opentechfund.bsky.social’s UXD Lab has provided more than 190 usability-support engagements for internet freedom tools. Learn more about the Lab and other key results from our internet freedom work:

📣NEW REPORT from @freedomhouse.bsky.social explains why anti-censorship and secure messaging tech are foundational to a free and open internet—underscoring the importance of @opentechfund.bsky.social’s countering digital authoritarianism. (1/4) globalgovernanceprogramme.eui.eu/wp-content/u...

TechRadar: “Iran encourages citizens to use a messaging app previously flagged as a state surveillance tool” by @opentechfund.bsky.social. Our Security Lab found that the domestic Bale Messenger compromises user data and puts their privacy and security at risk. www.techradar.com/vpn/vpn-priv...

@wsj.com: "Ms. Lake has ... done little to help Iranians get the virtual private networks, or VPNs, they need to dodge regime censorship on the Internet and social media." Here's why this matters 🧵(1/4) www.wsj.com/opinion/radi...

The Internet is a critical information lifeline for tens of millions of Iranians. Since Wednesday, the Iranian government has significantly increased online censorship and network interference to prevent Iranians from accessing information about the conflict. (1/6)

@opentechfund.bsky.social’s Information Controls Fellowship Program has supported more than 85 fellows to advance research into repressive censorship and surveillance. Learn more about this research, plus other key results from our internet freedom work:

@opentechfund.bsky.social’s #FOSS Sustainability Fund helps to ensure that free and open source software projects, and the communities that sustain them, have the resources they need. Learn more about this Fund and other key results from our internet freedom work:

@opentechfund.bsky.social’s Rapid Response Fund has supported over 400 rapid response interventions in more than 80 countries, including China, Cuba, Iran, Russia, and Uganda. Learn more about the Fund, plus other key results from our internet freedom work:

@opentechfund.bsky.social’s Lab partner @srlabs.bsky.socil's audit of Reproducible Builds’ code found that it is well-configured to mitigate many common hacking risks. Learn more and access the full audit report: buff.ly/aIwO3ci

@opentechfund.bsky.social’s Security Lab partner Subgraph’s audit of FileZillaPro Server found that the popular FTP app is well-configured to mitigate many common security risks. Learn more and access the full audit report: buff.ly/ed2sYRr

@opentechfund.bsky.social’s support for digital forensic and threat intelligence tools empowers #CivilSociety to identify and respond to digital threats and attacks. Learn more about these investments, plus other key results from our work:

[email protected]’s ICFP Fellow Alexandra Dirksen examined how authoritarian efforts to control network infrastructure domestically creates the conditions that facilitate HTTPS interception—threatening the #privacy of millions. Learn more: buff.ly/2VEq4fU

@opentechfund.bsky.social invests in privacy-preserving tech to enable users—especially those engaged in high-risk work such as journalists—to communicate privately and securely. Learn more about these investments, plus other key results from our internet freedom work.

[email protected] supported research into China’s semiconductor procurement is essential to countering the CCP’s repressive censorship and surveillance. Learn about ICFP Fellow Chiang Min-yen’s key findings and access the full report:

@opentechfund.bsky.social invests in novel censorship-measurement projects to more swiftly and reliably determine the scale of—and response to—digital authoritarianism. Learn more about these investments, plus other key results from our internet freedom work.

📣 NEW research from @opentechfund.bksy.social’s Information Controls Fellowship Program illustrates how censorship in China has evolved into a sizable and complex industry comprising an interconnected web of actors. Learn more:

Learn more about the Círculo audit from @opentechfund.bsky.social’s Security Lab partner 7ASecurity:

[email protected] received a notification from the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) rescinding the grant terminations the agency issued on March 15, 2025. OTF contested the termination of funding on March 20. Learn more: www.opentech.fund/news/open-te...

[email protected] filed a lawsuit yesterday as a last resort to contest the termination of our grant, which would cause irreparable harm to internet freedom technologies and their users in authoritarian countries—especially those in China. Learn more: www.opentech.fund/news/open-te...

@opentechfund.bsky.social President: Once we lose a user from one of our VPNs, particularly in China, it is almost impossible to get them back. This has clear consequences for any future U.S. government effort to reach people behind authoritarian firewalls. www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

OTF President Laura Cunningham: The immediate consequence is that if this holds, over 45 million people will lose access to trusted and secure VPNs, leaving them exposed to authoritarian surveillance and persecution.

Learn more about the SFTPGo audit from @opentechfund.bsky.social’s Security Lab partner Include Security:

🌱 The @opentechfund.bsky.social is continually seeking to support innovative efforts and new ideas from individuals and organizations globally defending #FreedomOfExpression online. buff.ly/3PQQoH9

@opentechfund.bsky.social is supporting the development of technologies that can operate with little-to-no connectivity, including communications resources and human rights-documentation tools. Learn more about the impacts and outcomes of our work.

@opentechfund.bsky.social welcomes 10 new Information Controls Fellowship Program (ICFP) Fellows and is now accepting applications for the next ICFP class, plus we’re supporting new censorship measurement and detection projects! Sign up for our newsletter to get updates:

2 weeks left to apply to @opentechfund.bsky.social’s Information Controls Fellowship Program! Fellows investigate how repressive governments are violating citizens’ #DigitalRights, and explore #circumvention methods to reclaim them. Learn more and apply by February 28

Learn how @opentechfund.bsky.social is supporting more than 45 million monthly users to access secure circumvention tools, as well as other key results from our work developing pioneering, open source internet freedom tools. https://buff.ly/4gMIdHS

Interested in increasing understanding of repressive internet #censorship and #surveillance and uncovering potential #circumvention methods? Apply to @opentechfund.bsky.social’s Information Controls Fellowship Program by February 28! Learn more:

Missed @opentechfund.bsky.social’s Q&A about the Information Controls Fellowship Program? Check out the answers to questions about process, eligibility, and more. Apply by February 28!