USDOS 12.11.23

Dear FOIA officer:

You are receiving this correspondence as a request under the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. subsection 552. I am requesting the following:

Copies of records for a grant and/or contract awarded by the United States Department of State to the Global Internet Freedom Consortium (GIFC) in 2010. Please see the following link from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC): http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8678760.stm

The lede in the above BBC article states: "A Falun Gong-linked group that promotes internet freedom says the US state department has offered it $1.5m, in a move condemned by Chinese officials."

The GIFC, as noted, is linked to practitioners of Falun Gong, a new religious movement originating from China. Falun Gong members have created and currently run non-profit organizations, media companies, and human rights groups, all of which focus on censorship and human rights abuses in China, and because of this, the group and its associated entities have received public and financial support from the United States government.

Yet, in 2021, news organizations such as National Public Radio (NPR) reported on disputes within the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM) over a contract (award ID: 95170021K0011) awarded to Ultrareach Internet Corp. (UEI: P9R8NZXL3SH3), a member of the GIFC, in 2020. Please see the following link from NPR: https://www.npr.org/2021/04/14/986982387/falun-gong-steve-bannon-and-the-trump-era-battle-over-internet-freedom

In the above NPR article, Matthew Baise, director of digital strategy and audience development for Voice of America, a child organization of the USAGM, was quoted from an internal audit as stating the following of Ultrasurf, software developed by Ultrareach Internet Corp. and promoted by the GIFC: "We spent nearly two weeks checking and double-checking how the number could possibly be this low. We believe the true, final number of measurable traffic from Ultrasurf to be so miniscule because a) none of the networks were ever notified of its existence so it was never promoted b) it's only available for Windows desktop machines (almost all our audience is on mobile devices) and c) it is a brand new product. In the absence of promotion on Ultrasurf's end, this thing was essentially invisible."

Given public reporting on the dispute over contract ID 95170021K0011 and the apparent failure of Ultrasurf to meet the parameters of that contact, any other financial support, whether through grants or contracted work, awarded to the GIFC and its member organizations can reasonably be understood as being of public interest.

This request includes, but is not limited to:

- Correspondence (traditional mail, faxes, email, etc.)

- Requests for Proposals

- Requests for Information

- Statements of Work

- Memorandum(s) of Understanding

- Letters of Interest

- Award Letters

- Task Letters

- Privacy Impact Assessments

- Invoices

- Purchase and/or Change Orders

- Project Budgets and/or Budget Proposals

- Evaluation Reports

- Presentations by the Global Internet Freedom Consortium

I am asking you to waive any fees associated with this request. I am a member of the news media and request classification as such. My bylines, which include Unicorn Riot, the Geopolitical Economy Report, and Creem Magazine, can be found in both print and electronic publications. Please take note of the Office of Management and Budget guidelines published March 27, 1987 (52 FR 10012) that include electronic publications and other nontraditional publishers as representatives of the news media.

A fee waiver is appropriate in situations where "disclosure of the requested information is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations and activities of the government, and is not primarily in the commercial interest of the requester,” 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(iii). Reasons for public interest have been noted above.

In the event that there are fees, I am willing to pay up to $100. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

This request is not being made for commercial purposes. All documents will be provided to the general public without charge.

I look forward to your response within 20 working days, as the statute requires. If access to the records I am requesting will take longer, please contact me with information about when I might expect copies or the ability to inspect the requested records.

If you deny any or all of this request, please cite each specific exemption you feel justifies the refusal to release the information and notify me of the appeal procedures available to me under the law.

Sincerely,

Robert Skvarla, Jr.

To Whom It May Concern:

I am following up on FOIA request #F-2024-02968, for information related to "Copies of records for a grant and/or contract awarded by the United States Department of State to the Global Internet Freedom Consortium (GIFC) in 2010." This request was sent to your office on December 11, 2023, and I received an acknowledgment that same date identifying it as "Received."

In the acknowledgment, I was also directed to the U.S. Department of State (DoS) FOIA Portal for further information on the processing of my request. The DoS Portal states that the estimated delivery date was 1/26/24, or January 26, 2024. As it is now February 12, 2024, two weeks beyond that estimate, I am checking in to see if the DoS requires additional time to comply with delivery of this request. Please identify if there are any unusual circumstances that would prevent your office from processing the request at this time.

Thank you in advance, and please let me know if you have any questions related to FOIA request #F-2024-02968.

Sincerely,
Robert Skvarla, Jr.

Dear Tyeesha Green:

I am writing in regard to FOIA request #F-2024-02968.

At this time, I do not have a contract number. But as verification such a contract (or contracts) exist, please see the following link, beginning at 57:45: https://www.c-span.org/video/?292697-1/internet-regulation-china

The link is for a clip of U.S. Ambassador Mark Palmer speaking before Congress, on March 24, 2010. Ambassador Palmer states: "Realizing the enormous success of this Global Internet Freedom Consortium and its potential, a bipartisan group of your colleagues, senators and congressmen, appropriated $15 million in 2008 to begin to scale up this system and any others which could demonstrate proven ability to circumvent Internet censorship in China, Iran and elsewhere. And in 2010, as you know, another $30 million was appropriated."

Although these appropriations did not initially make it to the Global Internet Freedom Consortium (GIFC), the Washington Post confirmed in May 2010, from a State Department official, that an offer had been made to the GIFC, for $1.5 million. Please see the following link, also attached, published by the Washington Post on May 12, 2010: https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/11/AR2010051105154.html

The article reads, in part: "State Department officials recently called the group, the Global Internet Freedom Consortium, offering it $1.5 million, according to Shiyu Zhou, one of the group's founders. A State Department official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, confirmed the offer. "

Please let me know if you have any other questions.

Sincerely,
Robert Skvarla, Jr.

Dear FOIA Officer:

I am following up on FOIA request control number F-2024-02968. On March 25, 2024, I received a message from the U.S. Department of State's FOIA Requester Service Center notifying me that the estimated date of completion for this request would be September 30, 2024. As of today, October 15, 2024, the order is still showing up as In Process in your FOIA status portal and the estimated date of completion has been updated to September 30, 2026.

I am writing to verify if the new estimated date of completion is correct, and if so, what necessitated the change? I did not receive any notifications indicating additional time would be needed to fulfill this request, so I'm hoping you can provide clarification.

Thank you in advance for you any help you may be able to offer.

Sincerely,

Robert Skvarla, Jr.