Washington, D.C. – In a filing last night, Open Technology Fund (OTF) asked the United States District Court for the District of Columbia to issue a temporary restraining order against certain actions taken by the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) and the Office of Management and Budget. The lawsuit asks the court to immediately block USAGM from terminating OTF’s grant and to release Congressionally-appropriated funds overdue to OTF that are being withheld by USAGM. If successful, this step will enable OTF to continue to fulfill its Congressional authorization to counter digital authoritarianism worldwide.
“The Chinese government is spending billions of dollars to erect the world’s most sophisticated censorship apparatus. OTF is the United States’ most efficient and effective tool to counter this malign influence,” said OTF Board Chair Dr. Zack Cooper. “At a time when the Chinese government is doubling down on advanced online information controls, we cannot take this critical tool off the table. Doing so would drastically weaken American national security and leave millions of people worldwide trapped behind authoritarian information firewalls.”
OTF’s complaint argues that USAGM’s March 15, 2025 termination of its grant, the mechanism by which OTF receives its Congressionally-appropriated funds, is unlawful. If USAGM prevails in this action, it will cause irreparable harm to internet freedom technologies and their users in authoritarian countries. Nowhere is this more the case than with respect to OTF’s strategic investments to counter China’s population-scale information controls, which will remain unchecked within the PRC and its sphere of influence.
“Billions of people in China, Iran, and other authoritarian countries rely on the technologies we support to circumvent repressive censorship, access truthful information, and communicate safely. These tools are essential information lifelines that must be preserved,” said OTF President Laura Cunningham. “This lawsuit is a last resort to keep our tools online for the people who need them most.”
Absent judicial intervention, over 45 million people in China, Cuba, Iran, Russia, Myanmar, and other repressive information environments will lose access to OTF-supported secure anti-censorship tools that have become a prerequisite to access the global internet. Among additional harms, the complaint alleges that nearly 150 internet freedom projects will be at risk if USAGM’s action moves forward.