Our Mission

Blueprint for Free Speech is non-profit charity that works internationally to promote the right to freedom of expression without undue interference or intrusion. Our research and advocacy strive to defend Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which asserts the right to freedom of opinion and expression for all people.

Our initiatives seek to:

  • Build a society free from barriers to free speech

  • Enrich public debate in the field of freedoms law through evidence and research

  • Support and provide research and tools such as software to civil society, policy-makers, leaders and journalists

  • Expose and deter crime and corruption through public-interest whistleblowing

  • Enhance citizen participation and awareness of their rights

  • Directly support whistleblowers, including by the provision of legal support

Our Values

Blueprint for Free Speech recognises that freedom of expression encompasses:

  • the freedom to communicate and share ideas;

  • a free and independent media to inform the public and to highlight corruption and wrongdoing; and

  • the freedom to access information.

Each of these assists an individual in making informed choices about the society in which he or she wishes to live.

We work to provide research resources for individuals and organisations that actively pursue and promote the fundamental right to freedom of expression, as outlined under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

We further understand the crucial distinction between an individual’s right to privacy and the need for increased institutional transparency. We support and encourage observance of individual privacy where this is important to prevent a chilling of free speech, while actively striving for increased institutional transparency to help improve accountability and to eradicate corruption.

We seek to provide specialist information and research in order to support NGOs, governments, freedom advocates, and others desiring to improve freedom of expression in all countries.

Our Activities

Research

We task ourselves with the provision of a free, publicly accessible, online library of research and analysis of legislation from around the world that pertains to freedom of expression. Specific areas of research include:

  • Public interest disclosure law

  • Libel/Defamation law

  • Shield laws (for journalists)

  • Internet publishing/Net neutrality

  • Freedom of information (FOI)

We view the law as a core pillar of improving freedom of expression for all people, thus this is the focal point of our free library. We will use this library of research and analysis to enable us to build and refine best practice model legislation, which can be used as a template for those who wish to pursue advancement of freedom of expression.

We aim for our library to inform law reform debate and help institute long-term structures and strategies that will help secure advances toward greater freedom of expression for all people.

We provide this research in an easy to use format, for free to everyone. It may be reproduced, with attribution, as needed.

Software and Digital Security

In order to further our mission of safeguarding freedom of expression for whistleblowers, activists and journalists worldwide, Blueprint for Free Speech develops software that allows for secure and anonymous communications. Our current projects include the secure messenger RIcochet Refresh and Gosling, a tool that allows software developers to add the feature of anonymity to the service they offer to their end-users. It provides anonymous, secure, and private peer-to-peer functionality using Tor onion services.

Digital security is not only a matter of using the right software, so we also offer training and tailored advice to at-risk individuals, journalists and civil society groups.

Support

Blueprint for Free Speech runs the No SLAPP contact point for the protection of journalistic work in Germany. The contact point supports journalists in Germany who may be subject to legal intimidation as a result of their work.

We also provide support to whistleblowers in Germany. If you need assistance as a whistleblower, you can get in touch with us via a range of secure channels. We may be able to assist in your case by providing specialist legal advice, although as a non-profit entity our resources in this regard are limited and we cannot take on every single case.

Whistleblowers in Germany with a specific public interest concern are invited to get in touch with us via Signal +49 1512 0236423 (making use of a username to make sure your phone number is not visible to us) or encrypted email contact@noslapp.de (PGP Key).

Please don’t provide us with any documents or data in the first instance. We recommend that you download Ricochet Refresh in advance of getting in touch with us so that we have a secure and anonymous means of communicating with you.