Newsletter Nov 6, 2026 HRF’s AI for Individual Rights Newsletter #25 This week, Microsoft reported that several North Korean hacking groups now use AI across much of their operations, the same week that regime-linked hackers stole $6.3 billion from cryptocurrency exchange Binance.
Newsletter Nov 5, 2026 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #145 This week, two stories involving the centralized cryptocurrency exchange Binance reveal how financial intermediaries can compromise both user funds and privacy.
Newsletter Oct 30, 2026 HRF’s AI for Individual Rights Newsletter #24 In Vietnam, the Communist Party is ramping up its use of artificial intelligence (AI) to censor online criticism and intensify surveillance. It is also expanding VNeID, a digital identity app used by more than 67 million citizens, into an “AI-powered surveillance super-app.”
Newsletter Oct 29, 2026 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #144 In Russia, we examine the first two months of the nationwide digital ruble rollout and the state’s efforts to restrict alternatives.
Newsletter Oct 23, 2026 HRF’s AI for Individual Rights Newsletter #23 Uganda’s regime, led by dictator Yoweri Museveni for over four decades, has long suppressed political opposition — and its repression is now supercharged by foreign surveillance tech.
Newsletter Oct 22, 2026 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #143 In Russia, the regime will ban peer-to-peer (P2P) digital asset trading between individuals starting July 1, 2027. After that date, Russians will still be “legally” allowed to buy and sell digital assets, including bitcoin, but only through state-regulated intermediaries.
Newsletter Oct 16, 2026 HRF’s AI for Individual Rights Newsletter #22 This week, we examine an investigation into the growing influence of the UAE’s national security adviser, Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, over the country’s AI future.
Newsletter Oct 15, 2026 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #142 In Iraq, the regime devalued the dinar by about 14.5% overnight, pushing up the cost of imported food, medicine, and fuel while eroding the value of salaries and savings.
Newsletter Oct 10, 2026 HRF’s AI for Individual Rights Newsletter #21 El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele is rolling out AI-powered public services that could boost his popularity — even as democratic checks on his power continue to erode — and expand his access to citizens’ personal data.
Newsletter Oct 8, 2026 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #141 In India, Apple removed Bitchat from the country’s App Store after the government ordered the company to block the offline messaging app.
Newsletter Oct 2, 2026 HRF’s AI for Individual Rights Newsletter #20 This week, we discuss how Xi Jinping’s visit to the United States reflects the Chinese regime’s significant influence over the future of artificial intelligence (AI).
Newsletter Oct 1, 2026 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #140 This week reminds us how fragile financial access can be in difficult political environments. In Iran, Tehran prosecutor Ali Salehi announced that the regime had identified and frozen 2,191 bank accounts belonging to 394 people accused of collaborating with a “hostile enemy.”
Newsletter Sep 28, 2026 HRF’s AI for Individual Rights Newsletter #19 In Iran and China, state-backed actors are using AI to run autonomous influence campaigns. These actors can now deploy hundreds of AI agents to create social media accounts and flood platforms with political content, marking a new era of authoritarian propaganda.
Newsletter Sep 24, 2026 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #139 In Russia, organizers of an international youth festival reportedly created multiple versions of the internet, including an unrestricted network for foreign visitors and a censored one for Russian citizens.
Newsletter Sep 18, 2026 HRF’s AI for Individual Rights Newsletter #18 This week, China’s top civilian intelligence official warned that artificial intelligence (AI) could pose a security threat to Chinese Communist Party (CCP) rule. He pointed to risks including AI-generated political content against the CCP, AI-powered cyberattacks, and sensitive data leaks, while calling for tighter state control over AI.
Newsletter Sep 17, 2026 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #138 In Iran, the clerical dictatorship doubled the price of gasoline beyond subsidized quotas from 5,000 to 10,000 tomans per liter. With inflation above 87% and food prices also doubled, security forces are now deployed around fuel stations in at least 11 cities.
Newsletter Sep 11, 2026 HRF’s AI for Individual Rights Newsletter #17 In Taiwan, officials revealed that Chinese tech companies are ramping up efforts to recruit Taiwanese engineers and gain access to the island’s AI chip expertise.
Newsletter Sep 10, 2026 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #137 El Salvador’s $1.4 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan is moving forward after officials reduced the government’s role in Bitcoin infrastructure. Majority ownership and control of the state-backed Chivo wallet have shifted to a private operator, while the IMF says recent additions to the country’s Bitcoin holdings came from private donations rather than public funds.
Newsletter Sep 4, 2026 HRF’s AI for Individual Rights Newsletter #16 Chinese tech giant Huawei is bidding to expand Egypt’s AI capacity, bringing more powerful artificial intelligence (AI) tools into the hands of a dictatorship. In a country where officials already closely monitor and suppress dissent, that expansion could make surveillance faster and more sophisticated.
Newsletter Sep 3, 2026 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #136 In Russia, officials sentenced a senior programmer to a four-year suspended sentence for donating $21 to the Anti-Corruption Foundation (ACF). Leonid Stepanov was convicted using his own bank statements, showing how the Kremlin weaponizes financial surveillance and demonstrating precisely why alternative payment rails like Bitcoin matter in the struggle for democracy.
