Hi public policy list,
Last Friday, the Wikimedia Foundation joined an amicus curiae brief in
support of the Open Technology Fund's (OTF)
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Technology_Fund> challenge regarding U.S.
Agency for Global Media’s (USAGM)
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Agency_for_Global_Media> decision to
dismiss OTF's leadership. The brief was sent to the U.S. Court of Appeals
for the DC Circuit
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Court_of_Appeals_for_the_District_of_Columbia_Circuit>,
where OTF’s challenge is currently pending. Wikimedia joined Access Now,
EFF, Human Rights Watch and other organizations in this brief to educate
the court about the importance of the OTF's independence and how the
Agency’s actions threaten free expression worldwide.
For the full brief, see:
https://www.accessnow.org/cms/assets/uploads/2020/07/OTF-Amicus-Brief-final…
For background on the effort to save the OTF's independence, see:
https://saveinternetfreedom.tech/
For those following the situation, you may see news about multiple legal
challenges to USAGM's actions. Last Tuesday, there was a temporary
injunction from the Court of Appeals, i.e., a temporary halt on OTF's
leadership change, and the day prior, the Attorney General of the city of
Washington, D.C. filed a separate lawsuit in the D.C. Superior Court. We’ll
be monitoring these efforts to protect OTF’s independence as they proceed.
Best,
Aeryn
--
*Aeryn Palmer* (they/them)
Legal Director
Wikimedia Foundation <https://wikimediafoundation.org/>
*California Registered In-House Counsel*
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