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How we operate

Our Vision:

The open Internet empowers people to build a more connected and collaborative world. The enormous potential of the Internet will be unlocked when unfettered access is realized as a universal human right.

What We Believe:

The 21st century is a connected century, where the divisions between government and citizens, business and customers, and people from all walks of life are collapsing.

We believe the future of the Internet should be shaped through transparent and participatory processes weighted toward the lived reality of those most affected. As an organization, we consciously and deliberately seek to put these values of participatory democracy and transparency into practice.

Our Mission:

OpenMedia is a community-driven organization that works to keep the Internet open, affordable, and surveillance-free. We operate as a civic engagement platform to educate, engage, and empower Internet users to advance digital rights around the world.

We use the Internet to save the Internet. By uniting the voices of Internet users worldwide, we are building a community that is finding new ways to protect and nourish access, free expression, and privacy online.

We educate the Internet community about key issues of the day.

We engage Internet users in mass collaborative campaigns using social media and innovative online tools.

We empower people by opening government processes to public input and scrutiny, and by crowdsourcing positive policy plans.

Our Focus:

We open channels of communication between organizations and ordinary people who are working to keep the Internet open and innovative for everyone. At times we amplify voices; at times we help translate complex, technical details; and at times we collect, reflect back, validate, and present ideas for how to shape new systems and policies.

We’re a small team used to punching above our weight, but we win a lot because of this empowering citizen engagement. We can’t help but believe in the Internet’s power to democratize decision-making, and to bring people together.

We focus our work on what we call the Three Pillars of Internet Freedom:

  • Access: In order for everyone to benefit from the open Internet, we need universal access to fast, open, and affordable networks. Access to the Internet is a right.

  • Free Expression: An open Internet is a place of free dialogue and creative expression, a place where we can all connect and collaborate in shaping the solutions to the world’s problems. Censorship and interference—like government takedowns or content blocking—are the enemies of the Internet.

  • Privacy: An open Internet is free from mass government surveillance and the reckless treatment of sensitive data. Using the Internet to spy on innocent people without their consent degrades our freedom, security, and democracy.

Operating Principles: What guides our work

Collaborative. We are a community. We collaborate with a fluid and broad ranging network of organizations and people. Our grassroots community is deep in the DNA of our organization and regularly inspires us to push our work further than we could have imagined on our own. We provide connections, support, leadership, direction, and venues, but ultimately look to empower people to build strong relationships that transcend us.

Transparent. Transparency empowers our community and our organization through two-way flows of information for smarter decision-making. We are constantly seeking ways to be more open, meaning we share with our community the what, why, and how of our work. Transparency is not the goal for its own sake, it is a means to creating a more collaborative and democratic world.

Nimble. We move at the speed of the Internet. We watch intently, study, and learn from the collective intelligence of our community and partners. We shamelessly incorporate ideas that work. We aspire to be movement leaders; we innovate, using the open source mantra, "release early and often.” We are not afraid to fail.

Human. We are a group of people not an institution. We exist to distil, translate, and make accessible complex issues in ways that educate and empower individuals to be advocates for themselves and others. We look for opportunities to remind people of the power they have when they collaborate based on shared purpose.

Post-partisan. We don’t just want a seat at the table when government makes decisions; we actively work to put citizens at the centre of government decision-making. No political party or orientation owns the Internet—the Internet is a fair, neutral space for dialogue, sharing, and commerce.

Want to learn more?

Check out our Under the Hood blog series, co-written by our founder Steve Anderson and our former Interim ED Alexa Pitoulis: