February 19, 2026
Much wow, less web
US funding for global internet freedom 'effectively gutted'
Internet freedom cash slashed; commenters split: propaganda or lifeline
TLDR: The US slashed funding for tools that help people bypass online censorship, issuing no grants in 2025. Commenters are split: some call it propaganda and cheer the cuts, while others argue it funded lifesaving apps like Tor and Signal—making this a high-stakes fight over free speech under oppressive regimes.
The US “Internet Freedom” fund—money that helped people dodge censorship in places like Iran and China—just got kneecapped, and the comments turned into a geopolitical bar fight. With Trump’s DOGE office (Department of Government Efficiency) cutting grants to zero in 2025, and the US dropping out of the Freedom Online Coalition, the crowd is throwing elbows.
On one side, cynics say this was never about freedom. User cyclecount claims the real mission was pushing American narratives abroad while “reducing young American’s exposure” at home. Bugsense snarked with a one-word meme: “More like ‘freedom’.” Taxpayer hawks, like jongjong, cheered the cuts as an end to “boatloads of” cash for non-profits.
But defenders showed receipts. Yorwba linked the Open Technology Fund’s project list, reminding everyone this money helped build real tools—Tor, Signal, F-Droid—used by protesters to communicate and share evidence when regimes flip the internet off. To them, slashing funding isn’t a budget trim—it’s pulling the lifeline.
The drama escalated with debate over soft power vs. actual survival: is this propaganda—or the difference between silence and proof when massacres happen? The vibe: Doge says “much efficiency, very cuts,” while the comments ask if we just made censorship cheaper.
Key Points
- •The US Internet Freedom program, run by the State Department and US Agency for Global Media, has provided over $500m in the past decade, including $94m in 2024, to support anti-censorship technologies.
- •In 2025, staff reductions and program cuts under the Trump administration halted grants, with the main granting office issuing no funding that year.
- •The Open Technology Fund won a December court ruling restoring some funding, but the administration is appealing; OTF declined to comment.
- •The US withdrew from the Freedom Online Coalition in January, signaling a shift in its digital rights posture.
- •Cuts threaten tools used to coordinate protests and bypass censorship in countries like Iran, Myanmar, and China, including Signal, Tor, and advanced methods like satellite datacasting.