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Rapid Response Fund
The Rapid Response Fund aims to resolve threats in a timely manner for individuals, communities, and organizations facing digital attacks and emergencies. We offer both direct financial support and technical services to those at high-risk, such as cyber activists, bloggers, journalists, and human rights defenders.
What we do
We provide both technical services and direct financial support to high-risk individuals facing acute digital security emergencies or threats.
Are you facing a clear and time-sensitive digital emergency and need short-term and urgent support?
We can help through technical services from trusted partners or direct financial support:
Technical Services from Trusted Partners:
We work exclusively with community partners who are highly sensitive to and well-aware of the specific needs and challenges of human rights activists, journalists, and internet freedom communities.
These partners regularly work with individuals and organizations who are subject to repressive regimes or vulnerable to malicious censorship and surveillance online. To respond to requests as quickly as possible, OTF maintains open agreements with these partners to provide digital security audits and mentoring, urgent risk mitigation, organizational security improvements, forensic analysis of digital attacks, secure web hosting, and other related services.
If you’re seeking technical support services, we’ll match you with one of our partners who will guide you through the process.
Available Services:
Category 1: Organizational Security & Digital Security Support
- Digital security audits for organizations
- Urgent risk mitigation for organizations
- Rapid assessment and crisis response planning for organizations
- Organizational security improvements
- Digital security mentoring
Category 2: Digital Attacks Response & Forensic Analysis
- Analysis of malicious mobile apps
- Security audits of web applications and systems
- Forensic analysis of digital attacks
- Recovery of compromised websites
- Audit of compromised websites
- Malware analysis
- DDoS response and mitigation
- Web application and website vulnerability assessments
- Analysis of compromised mobile phones
Category 3: Web Hosting
- Migration and onboarding support
- Secure web hosting
- Secure hosting, monitoring, and resiliency of websites during special events (elections, campaigns etc.)
- Provision of human rights abuse documentation tools
- Enabling access to blocked websites (e.g., website mirroring)
Category 4: Censorship Events and Network Shutdowns Response
- Establishing VPN servers during digital emergencies
- Providing alternative applications for communications and internet access during shutdowns/censorship events
- Analysis of internet disruption events
- Network shutdown response
Category 5: Localization
- Translation of relevant documents and/or digital security guides
- Localization of circumvention tools, secure messaging tools, or any other privacy-enhancing tools in response to digital emergencies
Direct Financial Support
If you have a need that is not sufficiently covered by our service partners and have the capacity to carry out the work yourself, we can provide financial support directly to help prepare for or mitigate digital threats or emergencies.
Activities eligible for direct financial support include (but are not limited to):
- providing circumvention solutions during censorship events
- providing personal digital protection for online journalists, human rights defenders, NGOs, activists, and bloggers
- rapid development of tools or translations needed to respond adequately to emergencies
- developing centralized, mobile internet applications that can link computers as an independent network (mesh or delay-tolerant networks)
- and emergency patches
Direct financial support awards are typically anywhere from $1 and $50,000 for a period of six months or less, although we can consider applications greater than this amount. Performance-based contracts are signed directly with you, and you’ll receive the funds upon completion of stated objectives, activities, and deliverables (per a schedule outlined in the contract). All payments are made in U.S. dollars.
We’ll pair you with an OTF program manager who will oversee all project monitoring and evaluation for the duration of the contract.
Rapid response to digital emergencies
How to Apply
Applying for the Rapid Response Fund (whether for technical services or direct financial support) is a simple, single-application form online.
You can apply at any time—there are no deadlines.
Please review our Applicant Guidebook for additional information.
Application Review Process
We carefully review the project to ensure it fits within the Rapid Response Fund mission.
Questions we ask to evaluate applications include:
- Does the proposed effort address a clear digital emergency?
- Is this a short-term effort?
Timeline:
We strive to review applications as quickly as possible, and make every effort to make a decision within five days of application submission.
Am I eligible for support?
If you’re an activist, journalist, human rights defender or other high-risk individual or organization facing a clear and time-sensitive digital emergency, then please apply.
The Rapid Response Fund can’t provide support for projects that are long-term in nature or that aim to build digital security capacity among groups or organizations. If you’re seeking longer term support, please consider applying for our Internet Freedom Fund.
Please also check out our Alternative Sources of Support, a list of other funding sources for efforts relevant to the fields of internet freedom, software development, journalism, and human rights.
Security and Privacy
We’ll make every effort possible to avoid disclosure of sensitive information beyond the OTF team. If you have any questions or concerns about your application, please don’t hesitate to contact us immediately at [email protected].
Before applying, please review our Terms of Service. If you have any questions, please email us at [email protected].
Our Partners
DefendDefenders
DefendDefenders is an NGO registered in Kampala, Uganda that focuses on strengthening the work of human rights defenders in Africa—specifically the East and Horn of Africa. DefendDefenders hosts the secretariat of the Pan Africa Human Rights Defenders Network (AfricanDefenders), which consists of five African sub-regional networks dedicated to the promotion and protection of human rights on the African continent..
DefendDefenders can provide the following services:
- Organizational Security & Digital Security Support
Language supported by DefendDefenders: English, Swahili, and French
eQualitie
eQualitie provides the Deflect service, a robust website protection infrastructure designed to withstand distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, for free to qualifying organizations. They are currently protecting over a thousand civil society groups working on human rights & civic support, ethnic minority rights, environmental protection, non-profit media, and democracy promotion from 80 countries.
eQualitie can provide the following services:
- Digital Attacks Response & Forensic Analysis
- Web Hosting
Languages supported by eQualitie: English, French, Spanish, Russian, Ukrainian and Chinese
Greenhost
The internet as a free and open space is under pressure every day. Greenhost regards the internet as a medium for accessible information, a platform for partnerships, and a forum to express and form opinions. As such, the distributed foundations of the internet and the data and privacy of individual users should be safeguarded. Greenhost actively participates in digital security and human rights projects by sharing knowledge, supporting partnerships, and developing open source applications in-house.
Greenhost can provide the following services:
- Organizational Security & Digital Security Support
- Digital Attacks Response & Forensic Analysis
- Web Hosting
- Censorship Events and Network Shutdowns Response
Languages supported by Greenhost: English, Arabic, French, Spanish, and Mandarin
Localization Lab
Localization Lab is a technology nonprofit that translates free and open source software (FOSS) and resources to strengthen digital inclusion, safety, and free expression. Since 2012, we have made FOSS technology available in over 220 languages. Our work centers on collaborating with communities to understand their needs and to uplift these needs to developers. We work with digital rights organizations and our community of 7,000 language contributors to select tools, co-design resources, and distribute finished materials. We’re thrilled to support Rapid Response Fund applicants to ensure that they have tools in the languages that they need and prefer!
Localization Lab can provide the following services:
- Localization (of internet freedom tools and translation of relevant resources)
Languages supported by Localization Lab: Arabic, English, ChiShona, French, German, Italian, Russian, and Spanish
Nothing2Hide
Nothing2Hide provides capacity building and security assistance to civil society activists, human rights defenders, and journalists around the globe. They focus especially on technology and information and how the first can empower the latter.
Nothing2Hide can provide the following services:
- Organizational Security & Digital Security Support
- Censorship Events and Network Shutdowns Response
Languages supported by Nothing2Hide: French, English, and Russian
0xche
At 0xche we do security engagements for civil society organizations with a regional expertise in Latin America.
0xche can provide the following services:
- Organizational Security & Digital Security Support
- Digital Attacks Response & Forensic Analysis
Languages Supported by 0xche: Spanish and English
Qurium Media Foundation
Qurium Media Foundation is a Swedish digital forensic group that offers Rapid Response support. The service is dedicated to independent media, investigative journalists, and human rights activists in internet repressive regimes that have been targets of digital attacks, or are likely to become a target due to their scope of work, and are in need of immediate support.
Qurium Media Foundation can provide the following services:
- Organizational Security & Digital Security Support
- Digital Attacks Response & Forensic Analysis
- Web Hosting
- Censorship Events and Network Shutdowns Response
Languages supported by Qurium Media Foundation: English, Spanish, French, Russian, Arabic, and Swedish
Security Matters Asia
Security Matters Asia was founded in December 2020 by experienced activists and security trainers to advance digital and physical security for at-risk communities across Southeast Asia. We focus on providing comprehensive security support and have built strong partnerships with human rights defenders and civil society organizations in Malaysia and Thailand. Our work aims to strengthen local capacities and foster a sustainable security ecosystem. Initiatives like digital security audits, crisis response planning, and digital security mentoring are pivotal in our efforts to develop robust protection mechanisms tailored to the needs of the internet freedom community.
Security Matters Asia can provide the following services:
- Organizational Security & Digital Security Support
- Localization (of internet freedom tools and translation of relevant resources)
Languages supported by Security Matters Asia: Thai, Malay, Mandarin Chinese, and English
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Spirula
Spriula is an integrated server administration and software engineering house. Our mission is to provide our clients with integrated technology solutions for automating and securely scaling their operations.
Spirula can provide the following services:
- Organizational Security & Digital Security Support
- Digital Attacks Response & Forensic Analysis
- Web Hosting
- Censorship Events and Network Shutdowns Response
Languages supported by Spirula: Arabic and English
Tierra Común
Tierra Común is a worker cooperative from Mexico City made up of a group of professionals and experts in free software, information security, and training. We promote a critical digital culture for organizations and communities. Since 2016 we’ve operated under the principles of collective work, transparency, horizontality, and continuous learning. Our team of six people has a voice and vote in our assembly. We’ve worked with independent journalists and organizations that defend human rights.
Tierra Común can provide the following services:
- Organizational Security & Digital Security Support
- Localization (of internet freedom tools and translation of relevant resources)
Languages supported by Tierra Común: English and Spanish