Open Technology Fund

ICYMI: Watch @opentechfund.bsky.social President Laura Cunningham speak at a @helsinkicomm.bsky.social event on what Russia’s MAX app means for the Kremlin’s evolving model of information controls.

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BRIEFING—The MAX App: Russia’s Pocket-Sized Approach to Mass Surveillance Russia is pioneering a novel, low-cost approach to digital censorship and surveillance. In lieu of a centralized system to block unwanted online activity, Moscow is pairing old-school authoritarian ta...

For more information and to stream live, please visit: www.csce.gov/press-releas... (3/3)

Panelists Laura Cunningham @opentechfund.bsky.social, @jshermcyber.bsky.social, and Anastasiya Zhyrmont of @accessnow.org will discuss the potential for Russia to export this surveillance paradigm further beyond its borders and strategies to circumvent and counter this approach to repression. (2/3)

UPCOMING BRIEFING—The MAX App: Russia’s Pocket-Sized Approach to Mass Surveillance
📅Dec. 2
🕑2pm
🏛️Rayburn 2358-C
Join us to explore the implications of Russia’s approach to digital surveillance, including prospects for access to the open internet in Russia & occupied Ukraine. (1/3)

@opentechfund.bsky.social's Security Lab partner NimKat’s recent audit of PiRogue Tool Suite found that the platform includes several security enhancements — including robust protection for wireless networks.

Learn more:
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China’s creepiest export surge Countries are queuing to buy the tools and techniques of the CCP’s security state

New @economist.com article cites @interseclab.bsky.social 's @opentechfund.bsky.social-supported research into how Chinese firm Geedge Networks exports internet-control technology.
www.economist.com/internationa...

@opentechfund.bsky.social's Security Lab partner 7ASecurity’s recent audit of AmneziaVPN found that the #OpenSource tool is securely designed.

Learn more and access the full report:
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@opentechfund.bsky.social's Security Lab partner 0xche's recent audit of Mailvelope found that the #OpenSource tool is securely designed.

Learn more and access the full audit report:
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Why the Open Technology Fund Is Worth Saving The government-funded nonprofit has helped millions living under authoritarianism access the internet safely.

An op-ed in @thedispatchmedia.bsky.social by former Congressional staffer Grant Mullins tells the history of how Rep. McCaul & Sen. Blackburn championed the Open Technology Fund Authorization Act -- and what we've been able to accomplish since its enactment.

thedispatch.com/article/open...

Anything but safe: Using VPN can bear immense risks – DW – 09/20/2025 A new study reveals that popular VPN connections provide less safety than widely believed. The findings are alarming, especially for users in authoritarian states.

"Users have a false sense of security because a nation-state threat actor can see everything the users of these products are doing," @opentechfund.sky.social-supported Benjamin Mixon-Baca to @news.dw.com on privacy & security issues he found in widely-used commercial VPNs.

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“This is very frightening,” @interseclab.bsky.social's Marla Rivera explained the technical details of new @opentechfund.bsky.social - supported research into Geedge Networks’ censorship and surveillance technologies to @wired.com.

ICYM: @opentechfund.bsky.social-supported research from Ben Mixon-Baca sheds light on the egregious transparency and security vulnerabilities of 16 commercial VPN apps linked to the CCP that put more than 700 million users at risk of authoritarian surveillance.
www.opentech.fund/news/who-own...

New @opentechfund.bsky.social-supported research from @interseclab.bsky.social and partners uncovers how Chinese company Geedge Networks is exporting a comprehensive, turnkey surveillance and censorship system worldwide.

Learn more:
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New research from @opentechfund.bsky.social-supported @interseclab.bsky.social & partners uncovers how a Chinese company exports tools for mass & precision surveillance & censorship—transforming how quickly & easily states can control digital communications (1/2).

interseclab.org/wp-content/u...

Leaked files show a Chinese company is exporting the Great Firewall’s censorship technology Geedge Networks is providing censorship capabilities to foreign governments, including those in Myanmar, Pakistan, Ethiopia and Kazakhstan

As part of a consortium of researchers and journalists, I spent the better part of a year digging into leaked documents from Chinese security company Geedge, which plays a pivotal role exporting the Great Firewall around the world: www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/15c699a...

Massive Leak Shows How a Chinese Company Is Exporting the Great Firewall to the World Geedge Networks, a company with ties to the founder of China’s mass censorship infrastructure, is selling its censorship and surveillance systems to at least four other countries in Asia and Africa.

We gave a interview about our new research The Internet Coup to @wired.com. Check their article on www.wired.com/story/geedge...

New Research: Our investigation indicates that the Chinese company Geedge Networks is exporting mass surveillance and censorship technology to Myanmar, Pakistan, Kazakhstan and Ethiopia. #GreatFirewallExport (1/5)

@opentechfund.bsky.social’s Security Lab partner Radically Open Security’s recent audit of Tails found that the operating system is well designed from a security perspective.

Learn more and access the full report:
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New research from @opentechfund.bsky.social’s ICFP Fellow Benjamin Mixon-Baca includes analysis of 16 commercial VPN apps that are popular in authoritarian contexts.

Learn about their suspicious operations, security vulnerabilities, and more:
www.opentech.fund/news/who-own...

A blue square with Open Technology Fund's logo, OONI's logo, and a description of OONI and the security audit performed: "OONI creates software for resisting repressive online information control through censorship measurement research and analysis. OTF's Security Lab recently audited OONI's new services and infrastructure to ensure it's as safe as possible for users. Audit results: OONI is designed well from a security perspective."

@opentechfund.bsky.social’s Security Lab partner Radically Open Security’s recent audit of @ooni.org found that their services and architecture are securely designed.

Learn more and access the full report:
www.opentech.fund/security-saf...

@chinafile.bsky.social’s Jessica Batke and @whiskeyocelot.bsky.social, authors of a new report that reshapes our understanding of Chinese censorship, spoke to the @washingtonpost.com about how the “Locknet” works.
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...

Big Brother gets new powers in China with digital ID system China is launching a digital ID system, giving Beijing greater control over online activity and further raising concerns about surveillance and censorship.

I talked to @washingtonpost.com for this piece on China's digital ID system. It's a great example of two key features of the Locknet: 1) different aspects of the censorship system reinforce each other, and 2) pushing the policeman into citizens heads.
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"In practice, online censorship in China functions more like a massive water management system: an amalgamation of canals and locks that regulates what flows, through which particular channels, and at what times." locknet.chinafile.com/the-locknet/...

I highly recommend this piece on internet censorship in China by Jessica Batke and ‪@whiskeyocelot.bsky.social‬ locknet.chinafile.com/the-locknet/... Whether you're an expert on the topic or completely new to it, I can guarantee you will come away with a better understanding.

Amazing work here. One of the smartest and most comprehensive reports ever done on Chinese censorship -- a topic that's going to become so much more relevant as DeepSeek and other Chinese LLMs continue to grab territory

New @opentechfund.bsky.social-supported research reshapes our understanding of Chinese censorship. It's not simply a "firewall," it's a "locknet"—a dynamic, multi-layered system of total information control.

This research reshapes our understanding of China’s censorship model. We must engage with its reality & understand the CCP’s ambitions within it—as it exists on the mainland and as it projects out into the rest of the world. (4/4)

One of the key findings is that China’s censorship model is ambitious in scope, shaping the digital architecture of the global internet in ways that affect users outside of China too. (3/4)

Instead of a technical splinternet, China’s censorship model maintains connection to the global internet – upending an assumed tradeoff between the economic benefits of connection and authoritarian desire for information control. (2/4)