The State Department gets its share of criticism for how it oversees millions of dollars in grants for keeping the internet open to dissidents. But a group of activists wants to make sure that Foggy Bottom keeps control of cash that some in Congress think could be better spent by the United States’ foreign broadcasting arm.

In a letter sent to Capitol Hill on Monday, activists warned that moving the funding for the Obama administration’s Internet Freedom Agenda to the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which oversees pro-American radio, TV and internet programming abroad, would undermine the goal of a “free and open internet.” The letter even has its very own Tumblr.

Last month, just as Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton unveiled a $25 million “venture capital approach” to fund the development of new circumvention and anonymity tools for online activists, Sen. Richard Lugar issued a report questioning State’s inability to disburse millions left over from previous efforts — just before internet-enabled activists essentially recast the Middle East.

That report led to a congressional effort to yank at least $15 million of that cash away from State and hand it to the Broadcasting Board of Governors, who are eager to help dissidents in repressive countries tell their stories online.

Bad idea, the letter’s signatories argue. The Broadcasting Board of Governors has a mandate to promote pro-American content. But “to be effective, internet freedom must be content- and message-blind,” the letter argues. And to conflate the Board’s mission with the creation of tools for online activists could put those activists in jeopardy “by exposing them to the charge of outside interference.”

At the same time, the letter argues for keeping control of the cash under the wing of State’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. Couldn’t receiving cash from the U.S. government’s diplomatic wing also expose activists to the same charge? Not really, says Katrin Verclas of MobileActive.org.

“State funds, for example, digital security trainings, mobile-security applications, etc.,” Verclas says in an e-mail. “Message-blind entirely, and often not even noted as U.S.-funded to ensure that activists are not put at risk in their countries.”

Notably, the letter’s signatories include representatives from MobileActive.org — like Verclas — and the Guardian Project, two organizations that have voiced caution about State’s Internet Freedom funds, while expressing support for the overall effort. Their focus on empowering pro-democracy activists with mobile technology is reflected in the letter’s concern about the Board of Governors’ “overemphasis on particular circumvention tools,” something that the signatories argue doesn’t sufficiently address the problems online activists face.

“There are many other challenges: Independent websites are falling victim to aggressive Denial of Service Attacks,” the letter urges. Non-governmental organizations “and investigative journalists face increasingly aggressive surveillance, including the installation of spyware on their computers and hacking of their e-mail and social networking accounts. Such realities require multi-pronged and flexible responses, involving a range of software, hardware, and training.”

The letter doesn’t try to make a robust case for State’s record of spending its dissent-tech cash. But it argues that the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor has “demonstrated the institutional capacity necessary” to underwrite new innovations and that moving the cash away would gum up the works even more.

“These efforts must be supported by a funding agency that has comprehensive view of the problem and a commitment to best invest these resources in the most important needs,” the letter reads, “including issues such as: creating spaces for public dialog, improving mobile phone security, protecting websites from censorship through hacking and attacks, training citizens and activists to be safe online, building capacity for local policy reform, responding to complete internet shut-down, and providing emergency funding for quickly developing events.”

Photo: Flickr/AlJazeeraEnglish