A18 EZ RE THEWASHINGTONPOST.SATURDAY,AUGUST 1 , 2020
litically motivated attacks, in-
cluding disruptionsin 2019 of
socialmediasitesaimedat sup-
porters of Venezuelanopposition
leaderJuan Guaidó,anti-govern-
mentdemonstrators in Ethiopia,
andfuelprotesters in Zimbabwe,
said the group’s research and
partnerships director Maria
Xynou.It also has spotted target-
ing of lesbianand gaypeopleand
ethnicminoritiesin Iran, Ethio-
pia and Indonesia,she said.
TheU.S.Agencyfor Global
Media haspaid$9.3millionof
the fund’s $20million 2020 allo-
cationto date, the agencysaid.
Butit alsoholdsan additional
$9 millionof prioryearalloca-
tions thatithas promised to
releaseas partofatransferof
contracts fromRadioFree Asia,
wherethe fundbeganas apilot
projectin2012, Cunningham
said.
Pack’saides have complained
of“biasandpartisanship”and
unspecified but “knownmisman-
agementandscandals”at media
components.Theagency’sstate-
mentcalledthe fund’s desireto
divertattentionfromthesefail-
ures“transparent.”Cunningham
saidthe fundhas not receivedany
explanationor justificationfor
thefundingdelay, norhasthe
agencymade it aware of any
“complianceor securityfailings.”
[email protected]BYSPENCERS.HSUTheTrumpadministration is
withholding$20millionin fund-
ing approvedby Congressfor a
U.S. Internetfreedom organiza-
tion,forcingthe cutoffFridayof
toolsusedby tensof millionsof
peopleworldwidetoaccessthe
Internetand uncensored news
throughtheVoice of America,
officialssaid.
Theheadof the Washington-
based Open TechnologyFund
saidThursdaythatitisbeing
forcedto halt49 of the fund’s 60
Internetfreedomprojects. The
move,accordingto the headof
the fund,affects about80 percent
of the group’s work helpinghu-
manrightsandpro-democracy
advocates, journalists andothers
in 200 countries.
“Mosttroublingis thatthese
actionswilldirectly strengthen
thehandsof Internetfreedom
adversaries, likethe Chineseand
Iranian governments, who are
activelyworking to undermine
freedomanddemocracyaround
the world,”the fund’s actingchief
executive, LauraCunningham,
wrote in an emailto the U.S.
Agencyfor GlobalMedia.
Thefundingfight is the latest
falloutin apowerstruggle be-
tween the OpenTechnologyFund
andthe U.S. Agencyfor Global
Media,whichoverseesU.S. gov-
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FTSE 100 INDEX 5897.76 -3.eign securitytoolsthataren’t in
theirown language... andit
takes timeto buildthattrust,”
saidKaurin,whohas helpedin-
dependent journalists in Viet-
namapplyhardwareencryption
toolssuchas Veracrypt to adapt
to governmentraids.
TheOpen TechnologyFund
projects includeaRed Team Lab,
whichhasauditedandpatched
morethan2,100 privacyand se-
curityvulnerabilitiesintools
such as SecureDrop,usedby jour-
nalists to acceptstorytips from
anonymoussources.
“It’sagreatloss to secure and
privatecommunications world-
wide,and especiallyto thosewho
are targeted by domineeringna-
tionstates,”said RedTeam Lab
memberErik Cabetas,headof
Brooklyn-basedIncludeSecurity.
Thefund also supports the
monitoringanddetectionof in-
creasinglysophisticated Internet
censorshipin about210 countries
throughthe OpenObservatoryof
Network Interference,whichcol-
laborates with entitiessuchas
Psiphon,acensorship circum-
ventiontoolhighly popularin
Iran.
Thenetworkhas identified po-TheOpenTechnologyFundis
one of the largestsources of
fundingfor developing,dissemi-
nating and maintaining free,
open-sourcetechnologytools
suchas Signaland Tor, which
permitusersto encrypt commu-
nicationsandanonymouslyac-
cessthe Internetdespitegovern-
mentcontrols.
It alsoworksto protectjour-
nalists, sources,activists and con-
sumersfromdigitalattack,and to
aid researchers andtechnology
developers.Defenderssayhalting
supportoftoolsthatsecure oper-
atingsystems,communications
anddata storagewillcut offa
criticalinformationlifeline for
peopledocumentingand sharing
evidencein repressivesocieties
with accelerating surveillance,
putting those who rely on it
directly in harm’s way.
“The impactisdevastating,not
just on our workbut on peoplewe
workfor,” saidDraganaKaurin,
whose Localization Labtrans-
lates securityand privacytools
into 200 locallanguages, includ-
ing for vulnerablegroupsin Bo-
livia,Colombia,Myanmar,Tur-
key, Vietnamand Zimbabwe.
“Peopledon’t trustprivatefor-of its audiencein China relyon
fund-supported technologiesto
accesscontentproducedby VOA,
RadioFree Europe,RadioFree
Asia andMiddleEastBroadcast
Networks.
TheU.S.Agencyfor Global
Media, in astatement, called
OTF’saccusationsmeritlessand
not basedon fact. It saidthe fund
is “veryfocusedon beinghanded
millionsof taxpayer dollarswith-
out anyoversight, whatsoever.
USAGM is committed to protect-
ing U.S. nationalsecurity, sharing
America’sstorywiththe world,
andsupportinglegitimate Inter-
netfreedom projects.”
Pack’smovesare controversial
among some executivebranch
securityand diplomatic officials
battlingcensorshipandsurveil-
lanceby U.S. adversariesin Iran,
China and Venezuela.
Spokesmenfor the State De-
partment and U.S. Agencyfor
International Development de-
clinedto commenton whether
theysupported the funding
freezeor whetherit wasconsis-
tent with the administration’s
policiescounteringrepressivere-
gimes,referringquestionsto the
agency.ernment-fundednews outlets.
After his confirmationin June,
theagency’snew director,Mi-
chael Pack, movedto fire the
fund’s boardandofficers,before
beingblocked by afederal ap-
pealscourtfromdoingso in early
July.
In an emailThursdaytoPack,
Cunninghamsaid the ongoing
“arbitrary and unnecessary”
withholdingof grantsearmarked
by Congresshas compromised
the fund’s workcounteringdigi-
tal surveillance,supportingtech-
nologiesusedby 2billionpeople
aday.She alsosaidit “jeopar-
dizedthe livesof millionsof users
who rely on our technologies
worldwide,”including theagen-
cy’s ownjournalists andits audi-
enceoverseas.
Thecutoff“not onlycompro-
misesOTF’s missionbut sabotag-
es USAGM’saswell,”Cunning-
hamsaid,includingthe advance-
mentof humanrights,U.S. for-
eignpolicyand nationalsecurity
priorities.
Theemail,acopy of whichwas
provided to TheWashington
Post,states that85percentof the
U.S. Agencyfor GlobalMedia’s
audiencein Iran and40 percentInternet freedom at risk, o∞cials say
Thebill allowsschoolsoperating
summerfeedingandafter-school
programs to serve all children
withouthavingto certifythe eli-
gibilityofeach individualchild.
Thirty-sixsenatorsexpressed
supportfor the extensionof pan-
demicschoolfeedingwaiversin a
letter,spearheadedby Sen.Mag-
gie Hassan (D-N.H.)and sent
WednesdaytoAgricultureSecre-
tarySonny Perdue.
Notall hunger advocates are in
favor of the bill. LisaDavis, senior
vice president of Share Our
Strength, saidher organizationis
not endorsingthe bill.Shesaid
she is optimistic thatSNAPwill
be expandedandPandemicEBT
extended.
TheSchoolNutritionAssocia-
tion,the tradegroupfor school
food-servicemanufacturersand
school food professionals, is
stronglyendorsingthe bill.
“With so manyfamiliesstrug-
glingto putfoodon thetable
during the pandemic, millions
more students willdependon
consistent,dailyaccessto school
meals thisfall,”SNA president
Reggie Rosssaidin astatement.
[email protected]ic.
Withmanyschoolplansfor the
fall still in flux,acoalitionof 35
organizationsrangingfromthe
NAACPtothe HispanicFedera-
tionurged Congressto expand
andextendthe schoolmealpro-
gram in lightof the worsening
hunger crisisbroughton by the
pandemic.
“This is newinitiative,obvi-
ously,but it’s old,”said Andrés.
“Let me takeyou backto 1946
whenthe schoollunchprogram
started.Themilitaryadvocated
for it, becausetheywere getting
youngmenfromrural communi-
tieswhowerehighlyunderfed
andunhealthy. We shouldnever
be seeingchildrenin the Bronx
duringthe pandemicwaitingon
linefor foodfor six hoursin the
richestnation on the planet.”
House Educationand Labor
Committee ChairmanRobertC.
“Bobby”Scott(D-Va.) on Thurs-
dayintroduced the Pandemic
Child Hunger PreventionActto
provideuniversalbreakfastand
lunchthis schoolyear forall
schoolchildren.
If enacted,thisbill wouldpro-
videfreemealsto studentsre-
gardlessof theirfamily’s income.whoare unemployed.
Thirty million students eat
schoolmeals.Of them,22 million
qualifyfor free and reduced-price
meals.According to an Urban
Institutestudy,only6in10stu-
dents eligiblefor free and re-
duced lunchhave managed to
accessmealsduringthe pandem-requestfor comment.
Thebenefitadjustment,which
begins in October,includesa
5.3percentincreasein the maxi-
mumbenefitfor thosewhoare
verypoor,but the minimumben-
efit remainsjust$16 per month,
hardlysufficientto sustainthe
roughly 31 million AmericansnomicAssistance,LiabilityPro-
tectionandSchoolsAct(Heals
Act) proposalunveiledthisweek
did not expandthe foodstamps
Supplemental Nutrition Assis-
tance Program (SNAP) or extend
PandemicEBT.
TheAgricultureDepartment
put out anewsreleaseWednes-
daytrumpetingaSNAPbenefit
increasein fiscal year 2021 aimed
at helping people “adjustto
changing economic conditions
andsupportAmericans during
toughtimes,”said Food andNu-
trition Service Administrator
PamMillerin astatement.
ButMaya Sandalow,apolicy
associate focusedon SNAP at the
Centerfor Sciencein the Public
Interest, saidthisis an annually
mandated adjustment thatre-
flects the hugeincrease in food
prices. Groceryprices showed
theirbiggest monthlyincreasein
nearly50 yearsin April.
“The releasegivesthe impres-
sionthatthe agency is increasing
SNAP benefits because of the
pandemic,”Sandalowsaid.“Not
onlydoesthe adjustmentleave
out somepeople,it’s notareal
increase.”
TheUSDAdid not respondto aBYLAURAREILEYWithpandemic-eraassistance
programspoisedto lapse,House
Democratsand anti-hunger ad-
vocates are pushingfor universal
freelunchfor schoolchildren.
“Ourleadersare not recogniz-
ing the hunger crisiswe’refac-
ing,” chefJoséAndréssaidThurs-
daybyphone fromSpain.“Mitch
McConnell—Iwould askhim,
please.Hisstate hasmanykids
whocan’t affordfood.Do it for
them.”
TheCaresAct$600unemploy-
mentbenefitendedthis weekand
moratoriumson evictionare lift-
ing Saturdayinmanyplaces.The
firstroundof the SmallBusiness
Administration’s PPP loans ex-
piredat the endofJune,as did
thePandemicEBT program,a
debit-cardbenefitfor food-inse-
cure households.
TheRepublicans’Health,Eco-
Anti-hunger advocates push for universal free lunch for schoolchildren
MATTMCCLAIN/THEWASHINGTONPOST
Packed lunchesare seeninFallsChurch, Va.Twenty-two million
students in the U.S. qualifyfor freeand reduced-pricemeals.As grocerypricesrise,
somesay food aid for
studentsmustexpand