The U.S. Department of State has announced a competition for the implementation of a program to promote Internet freedom in Ukraine in the context of a "hybrid war" with Russia.
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"The U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) announces an open competition for organizations interested in submitting applications for programs that promote Internet freedom in Ukraine," reads a statement on the U.S. Department of State's website.
The program should bring together technology experts, lawyers, civil society, media, and private sector representatives to discuss and debate Internet freedom trends, challenges, and policies. It should also build the knowledge and advocacy capacity of these groups in order to support cross-sector engagement on domestic Internet freedom issues and to combat regional and domestic threats to freedom of expression online.
"The program should have a strong focus on consensus-building among Ukrainian stakeholders on freedom of expression during conflict, specifically addressing the issues of self-censorship and the intersection of national security concerns with freedom of expression online," the document said.
The tender assumes that the program will be funded from one to three years.
The U.S. is ready to provide from US$500,000 to $1,180,500 in funding for the initiative.
As was earlier reported, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko and U.S. Undersecretary of State David Hale during their meeting in Kyiv March 7 noted the need to further increase pressure on Russia over its aggressive policies undermining world stability and security.
Hale said that Ukraine had made significant progress in implementing a number of reforms: in particular, in the judicial, energy and defense spheres.
