Applications Invited for DRL Internet Freedom Annual Program Statement

Follow us@ngobox

About the Organization

The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Affairs (DRL) is a bureau within the United States Department of State. The bureau is under the purview of the Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights.

DRL's responsibilities include promoting democracy in U.S. and around the world, formulating U.S. human rights policies, and coordinating policy in human rights-related labor issues. The Office to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism is a separate agency included in the Bureau.

About the Grant

The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) announces a Request for Statements of Interest (RSOI) from interested organizations for programs that support Internet Freedom. In support of the U.S. International Strategy for Cyberspace, DRL’s goal is to protect the open, interoperable, secure, and reliable Internet by promoting human rights, including fundamental freedoms, and the free flow of information online. The bureau supports programs in pursuit of this goal through integrated support for civil society to:

• directly circumvent or defeat Internet censorship;
• prevent and remedy online attacks;
• advocate against repressive Internet laws and regulations;, and
• research and document key threats to Internet Freedom programs.

DRL invites organizations interested in implementing programs in pursuit of this goal to submit a statement of interest (SOI) applications outlining program concepts that demonstrate capacity to implement effective activities within these four funding themes.

Internet Freedom Funding Themes:

Funding Theme #1: Directly Circumvent or Defeat Internet Censorship (Technology)

Goal(s): Develop, improve, and implement technologies to support uncensored and secure access to the global Internet.

Current Area(s) of Interest include, but are not limited to: 1. Technologies that counter advanced surveillance, censorship, filtering, or blocking of websites or online services. 2. Technologies that counter internet shutdowns and/or degradation of access. 3. Anti-censorship technologies that use machine learning to automatically bypass new blocking methods.

Funding Theme #2: Prevent and Remedy Online Attacks (Digital Security)

Goal(s): Conduct programs that enable at-risk, vulnerable, and marginalized populations, or those who protect them, to prepare for, prevent, identify, investigate, and/or obtain remedy for repressive digital attacks; or other types of repression (including online surveillance and censorship) designed to prevent these populations from exercising their human rights and fundamental freedoms online. Current Area(s) of Interest include, but are not limited to:

Projects that address the repressive use of spyware, especially when used against civil society, human rights defenders, or independent media. 2. Protecting human rights defenders, independent media and civil society from Denial of service (DoS) attacks, impacting their fundamental freedoms including freedom of expression. 3. Promoting accountability and remedy available for victims of digital repression. 4. Combating Transnational Repression (TNR) conducted by digital means (such as by the tactics mentioned above). 5. Developing effective methods for mitigating the impacts of artificial intelligence-enabled human rights abuses, including online abuse and harassment (without curtailing freedom of expression).

Funding Theme #3: Advocate Against Repressive Internet Laws, Policies, and Regulations (Advocacy)

Goal(s): Conducting or enabling policy advocacy to counter laws, judicial actions, regulations, standards, company policies, and protocols that restrict human rights and fundamental freedoms online; enabling the goals of the Digital Safety or Technology funding themes; and/or otherwise promote and expand Internet freedom.

Current Area(s) of Interest include, but are not limited to: 1. Combatting Internet shutdowns, including degradation of access. 2. Countering attempts to splinter the Internet. 3. Ensuring technology governance or regulation policies or legal measures do not restrict human rights and fundamental freedoms online. 4. Increasing the accountability and remedy available for victims of digital repression, including Transnational Repression (TNR). 5. Advocating in multilateral and international standard-setting bodies for Internet governance policy protective of human rights online and/or against policy promoting or enabling violations of those rights. Preventing and ensuring accountability for perpetrators of digital repression and rights abusing online data-collection practices, especially those that leverage artificial intelligence or machine-learning technology. 7. Combatting and preventing threats of online repression enabled by artificial intelligence, such as the deployment of network censorship and surveillance systems that leverage artificial intelligence or machine-learning technology. 8. Advocating against the integration of rights-abusing applications of machine learning or artificial intelligence in internet technical standards.

Funding Theme #4: Research and Document Key Threats to Internet Freedom (Research)

Goal(s): Research efforts to inform and benefit Internet freedom globally as outlined in the Goal(s) of the above Funding Themes, or to otherwise better understand and counter threats to Internet freedom.

Current Area(s) of Interest include, but are not limited to: 1. The repressive misuse of spyware, especially for surveillance, censorship, or repression of civil society, human rights defenders, or independent media. 2. Internet shutdowns, degradation of access, and splintering of the Internet. 3. Laws, regulations, policies, practices, and protocols that restrict Internet freedom, including those related to artificial intelligence. 4. Methods for mitigating the impacts of online abuse and harassment without curtailing freedom of expression. 5. Denial of service (DoS) attacks targeting human rights defenders, independent media and civil society, impacting freedom of expression. 6. Accountability and remedy for victims of digital repression, including Transnational Repression (TNR).

Eligibility

Organizations submitting SOIs must meet the following criteria:

• Be a U.S.- or foreign-based non-profit/non-governmental organization (NGO), or a public international organization; or
• Be a private, public, or state institution of higher education; or
• Be a for-profit organization or business (noting there are restrictions on payment of fees and/or profits under grants and cooperative agreements, including those outlined in 48 CFR 30, “Cost Accounting Standards Administration”, and 48 CFR 31, “Contract Cost Principles and Procedures”);
• Have existing, or the capacity to develop, active partnerships with thematic or in country partners, entities, and relevant stakeholders including private sector partner and NGOs; and,
• Have demonstrable experience administering successful and preferably similar programs.

DRL reserves the right to request additional background information on organizations that do not have previous experience administering federal awards. These applicants may be subject to limited funding on a pilot basis. Applicants may form consortia and submit a combined SOI. However, one organization should be designated as the lead applicant with the other members as sub-award partners.

How to Apply

The U.S. Department of State requires that SOIs be submitted electronically via MyGrants (https://mygrants.service-now.com) or Grants.gov (www.grants.gov) , Both systems require registration by the applicant at no cost.

Current Closing Date for Applications: Jan 09, 2025.

For more information please check the Link

Be A Part of Asia’s Largest CSR & Sustainability Forum- India CSR Summit & ESG Forum 2024 | 16th*, 17th & 18th October 2024

Tags Governance Innovations and Technology Research Advocacy Others