Our work includes efforts to curb overly broad and unaccountable surveillance—an issue highlighted by the growing use of digital tracing to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. We also work to make major internet platforms more accountable to the public and to expose and challenge problems caused by algorithmic decision-making, which risks creating new forms of discrimination. We support a global movement to make knowledge more accessible and to strengthen new ways of using technology and data for evidence and advocacy.
In the 1990s, the Open Society Foundations supported the development of internet access in the former Communist states where it was working, funding access to libraries and schools from Hungary to Kazakhstan.
Today, we support groups around the world that work on protecting the open internet, such as Brazil’s Institute of Technology and Society, which helped shape a 2016 law on internet rights, or Pakistan’s Bolo Bhi, which contested a draconian and loosely written cybersecurity law. We also support digital rights groups in Europe to enforce the new EU General Data Protection Regulation, the new global gold standard for data privacy.
Since 2001, the Open Society Foundations have supported the Open Access model for academic research—an alternative publishing and distribution model that makes scholarly research literature freely available to the public online. This has included supporting Open Access for medical research, which has assisted the drive to develop therapies and vaccines to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
Our Human Rights Initiative and Information Program directly support groups that have challenged government surveillance in Europe, the United States, and Latin America. The Open Society Justice Initiative is engaged in litigation to reinforce the public’s right to information in Latin America.
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Rethinking Research
Q&A: How Open Access Can Help Defeat COVID-19
In response to the pandemic, many scientific journals have lifted their paywalls on COVID-19-related research. The results have been positive, which raises a question: Why not do the same for research on other crises?
Standing Up to Big Brother
Q&A: A Big Step for Global Privacy Rights
By ruling against a government intelligence agency, one of the most powerful courts in Germany has struck a blow for data privacy and free expression.
explainer
Why We Need Whistleblower Protections
Whistleblowers play an invaluable role in the struggle for transparency and accountability. Unfortunately, despite increasing efforts in many regions, whistleblowers are often vulnerable to reprisals and intimidation.