Grants overview
The Digital Freedom Fund supports strategic litigation in Europe that contributes to advancing human rights that relate to the use of technology and/or are engaged in the context of digital spaces. See answers to our frequently asked questions here.
Since 2018, we have approved nearly 150 grants worth over EUR 5 million in total, and supporting the work of around 90 different groups in 30 countries.
See examples of the activities we have supported so far on our case studies page, where you can filter by different criteria, including grant type, issue area and organisation.
How to apply for funding
Make sure you scroll down to read more information to prepare your application and click here to see more detail about how to submit your application. On the same page you can also find the times for upcoming “ask us anything” calls.
To help write your application in advance, check out the application guides here, see examples of the digital rights work we are supporting on our case studies page, and read this blog to see a summary of our last round of grant approvals.
We are currently running a pilot of “participatory decision-making”. See more about what this means here.
Click the envelope below to write to us if you have any questions.
Types of grants
Litigation track support
Support for litigation of a case through multiple instances, from first instance through a final appeal.
Example: a challenge to the European Court of Human Rights against police use of facial recognition technology
Pre-litigation research
Support for preparation required before planned litigation can begin. This could include legal research, evidence gathering, forum selection or finding claimants and partners. Example: a comparative study between EU jurisdictions to determine which one offers the best options to address a specific issue.
Litigation track support
Support for litigation of a case through multiple instances, from first instance through to the final appeal.
Litigation track support grants can also include post-litigation activities, such as advocacy or enforcement activities following the judgement made in the final instance of litigation.
Example: a challenge before the European Court of Human Rights against police use of facial recognition technology, including a workshop following the final instance to share lessons from the ruling with the wider community.
Click on the image to see more examples.
Pre-litigation support
Support for activities to prepare for already planned litigation. This could include legal research, evidence gathering, forum selection or identifying claimants and project partners. It does not include broad research or general scoping about unplanned litigation.
Example: a comparative study between three EU jurisdictions to determine which one offers the best options to address a specific issue under an EU Directive.
Click on the image to see more examples.
To be considered for funding, cases need to go beyond the individual by advancing digital rights through legislative, policy or social change and increasing capacity and collaboration in the digital rights community.
Check out more examples of the cases we are supporting on our case studies page.
Grant application criteria
What are "digital rights"?
DFF works with a broad definition of digital rights. We consider digital rights to be human rights as applicable in the digital sphere. The digital sphere covers both physically constructed spaces, such as infrastructure and devices, and spaces that are virtually constructed, such as online identities and communities.
What is litigation?
We understand litigation as any legal or quasi-legal proceeding involving at least two opposing parties where there is a potential decision by an independent adjudicatory body.
These proceedings can be of any nature and take place at any court level including international. For example, regulatory (including data protection complaints), administrative or other proceedings (such as complaints to a data protection authority). Litigation that will result in a binding decision is preferred, but requests for support for “soft litigation”, such as complaints with UN Treaty Bodies or an Ombudsman, will be considered if a strong case is made for their potential impact.
We can support:
- Proactive Litigation: legal cases initiated by the applicant;
- Defensive litigation: litigation brought against a grant applicant, including strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) and criminal prosecutions;
- Third party interventions: as there is no direct control over the litigation itself, the intervention must positively impact the outcome of the litigation.
What is “strategic” litigation?
In order to be considered strategic, litigation must have the potential to:
- have an impact extending beyond the parties directly involved in the case; and
- bring about legislative, policy or social change.
For further reading, see our three part blog series about strategic litigation.
What kinds of cases does DFF fund?
DFF does not prioritise cases related to any digital harm in particular, rather we can consider any case that is seeking to advance digital rights. What is most important is that the case is strategic in the sense of seeking to achieve wider change. Some examples of case topics we can consider include:
- Ensuring the respect for human rights in the application of technology by law enforcement, such as in the context of predictive policing
- Maximising transparency in algorithmic decision making and profiling by government and private actors
- Setting standards to protect individuals against the discriminatory use of technology, such as automated decision making for essential public services
- Challenging the unjustified blocking, filtering and removal of online content, platforms or services
- Ensuring that online content is protected against the illegitimate use of copyright claims
- Ensuring that net neutrality and the principle of equal access to the internet is promoted and respected in practice
- Protecting and safeguarding individuals against unjustified government surveillance
- Protecting personal data and right to privacy under the GDPR
- Enforcing consumer rights in relation to the unauthorised collection and sharing of personal data
Check out specific examples of the cases we are supporting on our case studies page.
Geographical scope
DFF accepts grant applications concerning litigation in any Council of Europe Member States. Applicants based outside the Council of Europe can be considered as long as their litigation activities are taking place in the Council of Europe.
Who can apply?
We will consider applications from digital rights advocates (e.g. NGOs and other entities that pursue a public interest objective), pro bono lawyers, and other litigators seeking to protect and advance digital rights in Europe.
We fund not just digital rights organisations, but also provide support to racial, social, feminist, queer, environmental, migrant rights and economic justice movements and organisations working on digital rights.
DFF has a Code of Conduct, which expresses our core beliefs. We request that all DFF grant applicants and recipients review the Code of Conduct here, and expect that it is acknowledged, respected and accepted by anyone engaging with DFF, including DFF grant recipients. A key point of the Code of Conduct is that DFF will not tolerate sexist, racist, ageist, homophobic, transphobic, ableist, religiously insensitive or exclusionary behaviour.
Grant size
As litigators work with different operational models and each case has different dimensions and complexities, grant amounts requested vary. Rather than working with a fixed case support fee, DFF will evaluate each case on its own merits in light of both the general grantmaking criteria and the principle of cost-efficiency.
Over the last few years our annual grants budget has been around EUR 800,000, and we approved around 20 applications per year.
So far the average size of a litigation track support grant is around EUR 45,000 and the average size of a pre-litigation research support grant is around EUR 25,000. We have approved grants as low as EUR 3,000, and in a few rare cases litigation grants of over EUR 100,000.
For more information about what expenses our grants can cover, see this guidance.
What does a successful application look like?
In your application, you must demonstrate to have carefully considered and be able to motivate:
- the concrete objectives of the litigation;
- a plan to embed the litigation in a broader strategy for change;
- which groups/communities are most affected by the digital rights issue in question and how they will be involved in a way that is not extractive or harmful;
- the best forum to litigate in order to achieve the pursued objectives;
- the possible instances of litigation that may be necessary to achieve the litigation objective(s), including appeals and referrals to regional courts;
- how the litigation relates to other existing or planned activities on the litigation's subject matter – both litigation and otherwise – domestically and in Europe;
- why litigation is an appropriate tool to employ in this context;
- the identified risks and weaknesses of the litigation and a strategy for mitigation;
- a plan for implementation in case of a positive outcome of the litigation and mitigation in case of a negative or mixed outcome;
Check out this page for more information about how we monitor impact.