Expression

Open Society supports efforts to strengthen freedom of expression, privacy, and access to information—against the background of a constantly evolving digital environment that has enhanced the capacity of both state and corporate power to influence and affect our private lives. We work to make the use of digital technology more accountable to society. We seek to advance cultural and artistic freedom that inspires positive change. And we support independent journalism and media groups whose work helps build informed, engaged societies.

A handful of private technology firms wield enormous power over our daily lives, but with no genuine accountability—while providing governments with new surveillance technologies that can suppress dissent and reinforce discrimination against vulnerable groups. Open Society supports the creation of global standards and rules for the behavior of existing corporate digital platforms—including measures to protect user privacy and to counter hate speech and disinformation.

We are proud to be among the funders of media initiatives and organizations that have time and again exposed deep-rooted political corruption and malfeasance. We support the search for new models of media investment and funding that will preserve editorial independence. And we work with groups around the world that help protect journalists from threats of violence and legal intimidation.

Open Society is a leading funder of ongoing efforts to identify and return cultural artifacts now in leading museums and galleries around the world that were acquired by theft, looting, and pillage under colonial administrations. We also support the work of creative and socially-engaged artists and institutions with an emphasis on voices from excluded communities and the Global South. This includes our support for individual artists through our Soros Arts Fellowships program.