Digital Freedom Fund

The Digital Freedom Fund supports strategic litigation to advance digital rights in Europe. DFF provides financial support and seeks to catalyse collaboration between digital rights activists to enable people to exercise their human rights in digital and networked spaces.
What we do
Digital rights are under threat across Europe. From data retention to surveillance and content regulation, new legislation and emerging practice have a serious impact on the ability of citizens to exercise their rights to privacy and freedom of expression. Strategic litigation – litigation with broad impact and which can bring about legislative or policy change – has proven to be a crucial lever to protect human rights in the digital realm.

The Digital Freedom Fund supports Europe’s digital rights litigators – NGOs, pro bono lawyers and sometimes regular litigators – enabling them to become more effective in their work. We do this in a number of ways: through grants to support the legal, advocacy, research, and other costs involved in litigation, and through facilitating digital rights actors’ access to pro-bono legal support.

DFF also facilitates skill development and networking in the digital rights field with a view to strengthening strategic litigation efforts. For example, in July 2018, we hosted in co-operation with the SHARE Foundation a Strategic Litigation Retreat for European litigators to help sharpen and build upon their strategic litigation skills, and strengthen collaboration across countries and issues. Find out more in this short documentary about the event: