Strategic Litigation Support for Digital Rights: Digital Freedom Fund 2025 Applications Now Open

Types of Grants Supported

1. Strategic Litigation Support:

• Covers the entire legal process of a case, from the initial stage to the appeal process.
• Post-decision advocacy work and activities supporting implementation may also be included.
• Example: The case filed with the ECHR regarding the use of facial recognition technology and the experience-sharing workshop organized afterwards.

2. Pre-litigation Research Support:

• Covers preparations such as research, evidence gathering, selection of the appropriate court/forum, and identification of litigation partners prior to a planned lawsuit.
• Example: Comparative legal analysis to identify the best practice country in the implementation of an EU Directive.

Thematic Priorities

DFF supports strategic litigation focusing on the following areas:

• Right to Privacy
• Protection against arbitrary state surveillance
• Clarification of data protection limits under the GDPR
• Lawsuits against the unauthorized sharing of consumer data
• Access to Information on the Internet
• Arbitrary content censorship and platform blocking
• Lawsuits against the blocking of access to information through the misuse of copyright
• Enforcement of net neutrality
• Transparency and Accountability in Technology Use:
• Protection of human rights in predictive policing
• Transparency in algorithmic decision-making processes
• Establishment of legal standards against discriminatory algorithms

Who Can Apply?

• Civil society organizations and social movements working in the field of digital rights
• Feminist, environmental, queer, and migrant rights organizations
• Pro bono lawyers and human rights defenders
• All levels of organizations operating in the public interest and active in Council of Europe countries

Grant Amounts

• Average strategic litigation grant: 45,000 EUR
• Average research grant: 25,000 EUR

For more information: https://digitalfreedomfund.org/grants/