Report Sep 22, 2026 AI for Activists: A Guide to Supercharging Your Movement with Artificial Intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is often described as the most transformative technology of our time. Its meteoric development is reshaping industries, economies, and the way people work, communicate, and create. Governments are investing billions of dollars into it. Corporations are racing to build ever more capable AI systems. News headlines alternate between promises of extraordinary breakthroughs and warnings about existential risks.
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.
Announcement Sep 18, 2026 Introducing Updates to the CBDC Tracker One of the most meaningful aspects of running the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) Tracker at the Human Rights Foundation (HRF) has been listening to public feedback. Building a tool is one thing; building one that people find valuable is another.
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.
Report Sep 15, 2026 Risks Beyond Wrongdoing: Traveling to China On Sept. 15, 2026, China’s new Regulations on Exit and Entry Administration will enter into force. Although the regulations do not create a blanket new exit ban power over foreign visitors, they do further formalize a wider legal system in which the boundaries of prohibited conduct are difficult to anticipate and meaningful avenues for challenging government action are limited.
Announcement Sep 14, 2026 HRF Co-sponsors AI Hack for Freedom III in Washington, D.C., Sept. 24–25 WASHINGTON D.C. (September 14, 2026) — The Human Rights Foundation will co-sponsor the AI Hack for Freedom III in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 24 and 25. This AI-powered hackathon, the third of its kind this year, is designed to put world-leading human rights activists as captains of teams of engineers to build powerful new tools to scale the work of the people and movements challenging authoritarianism worldwide.
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.
Announcement Sep 8, 2026 New WSJ essay from HRF’s Alex Gladstein In a new essay for The Wall Street Journal, HRF Chief Strategy Officer Alex Gladstein examines what happens when people cannot rely on their governments or financial systems to protect their savings, access their money, or transact freely.
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.
Newsletter Aug 28, 2026 HRF’s AI for Individual Rights Newsletter #15 This week, Saudi Arabia’s state-linked AI company HUMAIN announced a partnership with French AI lab Mistral. When authoritarian regimes collaborate with leading AI companies from democracies, they may gain greater influence over how AI systems are developed and deployed.
Newsletter Aug 13, 2026 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #135 In Iraq, the hybrid authoritarian regime has decided to remove three zeros from the dinar and issue new banknotes, a move officials argue would force hoarded cash back into banks.
Press Release Aug 25, 2026 HRF Grants 500M+ Satoshis to 16 Freedom Tech Projects Worldwide The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) is pleased to announce grants totaling more than 500 million satoshis from its Bitcoin Development Fund (BDF).
Newsletter Aug 24, 2026 HRF’s AI for Individual Rights Newsletter #14 Welcome to the 14th edition of HRF’s AI for Individual Rights newsletter. We begin in Afghanistan, where the Taliban is using tens of thousands of cameras to surveil women forced to follow its repressive rules.
Newsletter Aug 20, 2026 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #134 In Russia, Binance gave officials the identity and transaction history of a user who donated more than $700 in cryptocurrency to Ukrainian causes. The Kremlin later used this information to charge him with financing terrorism.
Announcement Aug 20, 2026 Gulf dictatorships have moved billions into global football. Now what? Shadow Play is a limited-run print magazine about football and dictators from The Signal and Human Rights Foundation (HRF).
Newsletter Aug 13, 2026 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #133 In Russia, Putin’s dictatorship officially designated the Human Rights Foundation (HRF) as an “undesirable” organization.
Newsletter Aug 14, 2026 HRF’s AI for Individual Rights Newsletter #13 Across this week’s news, authoritarian regimes continue deploying AI-powered surveillance to better identify and track critics.
Report Aug 11, 2026 Toolkit to Counter the Chinese Communist Party’s Transnational Repression The Human Rights Foundation’s Toolkit to Counter the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) Transnational Repression (TNR) is a direct outcome of HRF’s 2026 Beyond Borders workshop, which brought together young activists from Uyghur, Hong Konger, Tibetan, Chinese, and Southern Mongolian diasporas and Taiwan.
