Newsletter Aug 10, 2026 HRF’s AI for Individual Rights Newsletter #12 This week we look at how police in Delhi shockingly used AI-powered facial recognition to scan India’s largest youth protest in decades, matching faces against a police database in real time.
Newsletter Aug 6, 2026 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #132 In Syria, the transitional government replaced the Assad-era pound, which lost more than 99% of its value since 2011. The new pound removes two zeros from the old currency, but the process has created new barriers for Syrians holding old banknotes outside the formal economy, especially those who are unbanked, far from Damascus, or reliant on cash.
Blog Post Aug 4, 2026 Don’t Be Fooled: How To Vet Ethical Brands Understanding whether a brand is truly ethical and focused on impact, especially when it comes to avoiding forced labor and exploitative labor practices, is not easy.
Newsletter Jul 30, 2026 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #131 In India, Narendra Modi’s hybrid authoritarian regime attempted to restrict access to code for Bitchat, an open-source app that allows users to send messages over Bluetooth without an internet connection, after suspending internet access during student protests in Delhi.
Announcement Jul 29, 2026 HRF’s Chief Strategy Officer, Alex Gladstein, featured on BBC World Service What if AI could be a tool for freedom? In conversation with Owen Clegg from BBC World Service, Alex Gladstein, Chief Strategy Officer at the Human Rights Foundation, explores how artificial intelligence can empower human rights activists, expand access to information, and help counter authoritarian uses of technology. Listen to the full conversation below.
Press Release Jul 27, 2026 HRF Succeeds in UN Petition for Hong Kong Pro-Democracy Activist Owen Chow NEW YORK (July 27, 2026) — The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) welcomes the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) decision that the detention of Hong Kong activist Owen Chow is arbitrary and in violation of international law.
Publication Jul 24, 2026 Protecting EU-Based Youth Activists and Diaspora Communities from China’s Transnational Repression Although a codified definition remains absent from the international legal lexicon, transnational repression (TNR) refers to the practice of foreign governments or their proxies extending their reach beyond borders in an attempt to individuals, including human rights defenders, journalists, activists, artists, academics, and members of diaspora communities, whose speech, activity, or perceived affiliations are regarded by the state as unacceptable.
Publication Jul 24, 2026 Protecting US-Based Youth Activists and Diaspora Communities from China’s Transnational Repression Although a codified definition remains absent from the international legal lexicon, transnational repression (TNR)1 refers to the practice of foreign governments or their proxies extending their reach beyond borders in an attempt to control individuals, including human rights defenders, journalists, activists, artists, academics, and members of diaspora communities, whose speech, activity, or perceived affiliations are regarded by the state as unacceptable.
External Source Freedom Tech track at OFF 2026 This explores how new technologies are weaponized by authoritarian regimes and how tools like Bitcoin, offline messaging like Bitchat, decentralized communication protocols like Nostr, and open-source AI are helping human rights defenders on the front lines transact, communicate, and organize where they otherwise could not.
Newsletter Jul 23, 2026 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #130 In Russia, lawmakers approved new amendments expanding financial surveillance under the country’s “foreign agents” law.
Announcement Jul 22, 2026 How AI Agents Are Empowering Human-Rights Defenders Just two years ago, AI seemed like an inevitable upgrade for dictators and a downgrade for dissidents.
Announcement Jul 20, 2026 HRF’s Alex Gladstein Discusses AI and the Future of Human Rights with Cutting-Edge AI Researcher Artificial intelligence (AI) is the fastest-spreading technology in human history. But the crucial question is whether or not it will serve human freedom.
Newsletter Jul 16, 2026 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #129 In Burma, officials froze the bank accounts of more than 100 companies, including firms involved in car imports, fuel, agriculture, gemstones, and import-export businesses.
Newsletter Jul 9, 2026 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #128 Last week, Kenyan police detained hundreds as families of those killed in the 2024 Finance Bill protests marched to Parliament.
Newsletter Jul 2, 2026 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #127 In Gaza, Palestinians report that they are unable to access their own money after the Bank of Palestine froze accounts without warning.
Newsletter Jul 1, 2026 HRF’s AI for Individual Rights Newsletter #11 Today, we cover a report revealing potential advances in North Korea’s AI capabilities that enable dangerous surveillance use cases despite an apparent lack of ability to acquire advanced AI chips.
Announcement Jun 25, 2026 Nomination of Rwandan pro-democracy leader Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza for the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize 2026, one year after her arbitrary detention Freedom Now, the Human Rights Foundation, and the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights & Justice are proud to announce their nomination of Ms. Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza for the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) 2026 Václav Havel Human Rights Prize.
Newsletter Jun 25, 2026 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #126 Cuba’s communist regime approved more than 175 economic reforms touting liberalization, but real financial freedom remains out of reach for everyday people.
Report Jun 24, 2026 Football in Equatorial Guinea’s dynastic family dictatorship Equatorial Guinea, a tiny central African nation which gained its independence from Spain in 1968, has been under the rule of a dynastic family dictatorship for nearly six decades.
Newsletter Jun 18, 2026 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #125 In Burma, the military junta proposed a new law that would allow officials to monitor financial activity, freeze accounts, and target alternative payment networks used by dissidents and civil society.
