Support for information programs

(a) Grants authorized (1) In general The Secretary of State, working through the Open Technology Fund and the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, is authorized to award grants to private organizations to support and develop programs in Hong Kong that promote or expand— (A) online information access; (B) freedom of the press; (C) disruptive technologies that bypass internet blocking, filtering, and other censorship techniques; (D) virtual private networks; (E) firewall circumvention tools; (F) distributed denial of service mitigation techniques; (G) digital security capacity building for internet users; or (H) digital resiliency for international organizations, pro-democracy activists, and other civil society actors in Hong Kong, including emergency support. (2) Goals The programs receiving grants pursuant to paragraph (1) should strive— (A) to make the technologies described in paragraph (1) available in Hong Kong; (B) to increase the number of the tools in the circumvention technology portfolio; (C) to promote the availability of such technologies and tools in Hong Kong; (D) to encourage the adoption of such technologies and tools by the people of Hong Kong; (E) to scale up the distribution of such technologies and tools throughout Hong Kong; (F) to prioritize the development of tools, components, code, and technologies that are fully open-source, to the extent practicable; (G) to conduct research on repressive tactics that undermine internet freedom in Hong Kong; and (H) to engage American private industry, including e-commerce firms and social networking companies, on the importance of preserving internet access in Hong Kong. (3) Grant recipients Grants awarded pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be distributed to multiple vendors and suppliers through an open, fair, competitive, and evidence-based decision process— (A) to diversify the technical base; and (B) to reduce the risk of mitigation by bad actors. (4) Security audits New technologies developed using grants from this subsection shall undergo comprehensive security audits to ensure that such technologies are secure and have not been compromised in a manner detrimental to the interests of the United States or to individuals or organizations benefitting from programs supported by the Open Technology Fund. (b) Funding source The Secretary of State is authorized to expend funds from the Human Rights and Democracy Fund of the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor of the Department of State during fiscal year 2027 for grants awarded pursuant to subsection (a) by any entity represented in the interagency working group. (c) Authorization of appropriations (1) Open Technology Fund In addition to the amounts authorized to be expended pursuant to subsection (b), there are authorized to be appropriated to the Open Technology Fund $5,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2027 through 2031 to carry out this section. (2) Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor In addition to the amounts authorized to be expended pursuant to subsection (b), there are authorized to be appropriated to the Office of Internet Freedom Programs of the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor of the Department of State $10,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2027 through 2031 to carry out this section. (3) Availability Amounts appropriated pursuant to paragraphs (1) and (2) shall remain available until expended.