The future of global internet freedom hangs in the balance as US funding for this critical initiative faces an unprecedented threat. For nearly two decades, the US quietly supported a global effort to prevent the internet from becoming fragmented into authoritarian-controlled fiefdoms. This funding, managed by the US State Department and the US Agency for Global Media, has been a lifeline for small groups worldwide, from Iran to China, empowering them to develop grassroots technologies to bypass government-imposed internet controls. However, this vital program is now at risk, with a significant portion of its funding already gone, jeopardizing internet freedoms across the globe.
The program, known as Internet Freedom, has distributed over $500 million in the past decade, according to an analysis by The Guardian. But with the arrival of Doge, Donald Trump's department of government efficiency, aimed at reducing the size of US agencies, the program has faced severe cuts. Career employees working on Internet Freedom were forced out in 2025 as part of larger reductions, and many of its programs were permanently cut. The main granting office issued no funds in 2025, and the Trump administration is now appealing a lawsuit that sought to restore some of this crucial funding.
The impact of these cuts is far-reaching. Technologies that helped Iranians coordinate during anti-government protests and share videos and images of massacres with the outside world are now at risk. Similar efforts in Myanmar to bypass the junta's digital iron curtain and the ability of users in China to avoid surveillance could also be severely impacted.
"The program was effectively gutted," said a former US official. "They didn't issue any grants this year."
The purpose of Internet Freedom was to prevent what North Korea has achieved through decades of censorship and what Iran accomplished during its bloody crackdown on anti-government protests in January: cutting off an entire population from the global internet. The US aimed to counter this by funding groups capable of developing and utilizing technologies to evade such restrictions and censorship.
These technologies include well-known tools like the encrypted messaging service Signal and the Tor browser, which allows users to browse anonymously. But they also include more advanced and powerful tools that can bypass even the most stringent censorship regimes. For example, advanced circumvention technologies can leap over China's firewall or provide access to international news in Iran when mobile phone networks are down, using methods like satellite datacasting, which broadcasts data similar to a television signal.
One such technology has enabled Iranians to communicate securely during recent anti-government protests, alerting each other to shootings and police presence even when the rest of the internet was cut off.
The soft-power goal of Internet Freedom was to maintain the internet as a mostly accessible global commons. The groups it funded made censorship costly and difficult for oppressive governments. "When you challenge censorship, the long-term effect is that oppressive governments must either open their internet or go in the direction of North Korea," said the former US official. "Because each of those options is costly for them, they'll keep trying to censor their networks so as to have the economic benefits of the internet without the drawbacks of freedom of speech and access to information. So the fight continues."
"Internet Freedom funded the development of many of the censorship-circumvention technologies that millions of people around the world depend on to maintain a link to the outside world," said Doug Madory, an internet infrastructure expert who works closely with many of these groups.
The makers of these technologies often operate on a shoestring budget and a passion for the cause. "There's no fancy offices, they're working out of their apartments. It's not a moneyed industry," Madory added.
Most recipients of this funding keep it quiet, as accepting state department funds can be dangerous in some places. However, as the funds run out, more and more organizations, including journalists, activists, and civil society groups, are seeking out these technologies and the groups that build them. Censorship regimes are intensifying worldwide, and the need for these tools is greater than ever.
"It's a massive blow. The need is bigger, and other funding is also gone. Organizations that provide these tools are being overwhelmed," said a digital rights expert. "It's not sustainable."
Some groups working on these technologies have had to lay off staff, while others continue without pay. A few hold out hope that some funding can be restored, although they fear the Trump administration might further politicize its aims. While a recent appropriations bill includes a budget line for Internet Freedom, it does not specify which programs will receive this funding.
"Everybody's just waiting right now, to be honest. But at the same time, wait at your own risk," said an Iranian technologist funded through Internet Freedom.
Meanwhile, censorship technology is becoming cheaper and more accessible. Chinese companies have exported sophisticated middleboxes, devices that monitor internet traffic, to countries across Africa and Asia in the past year. These allow regimes like Iran's to fine-tune their control over the domestic internet, allowing commerce to continue while throttling communication.
Several recipients of US funding expressed hope that Europe might step in to fund these technologies in the future. Some have already petitioned EU officials for funding.
The cuts make it easier for oppressive regimes to build digital iron curtains, putting their populations in information bubbles that reinforce specific narratives. "It makes it easier for the Kremlin to put Russians in a digital information bubble that reinforces specific narratives about people outside of Russia. This makes it easier for China and Iran to do the same," said one recipient of US funding.
The future of global internet freedom hangs in the balance, and the world is watching to see if other nations will step up to fill the void left by the US.
