Blog Post May 16, 2024 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #24 This week in Russia, Vladimir Putin’s “reelection” for a fifth term underscores a deepening authoritarian regime, characterized by stringent control over the financial system and harsh crackdowns on dissenters — a far cry from his pledge to “preserve and develop democracy” when first assuming office in 2000.
Blog Post May 10, 2024 Kyrgyzstan Under Japarov: The Country’s Decline Into Dictatorship For years, Kyrgyzstan was considered the only country that was moving toward democratization in Central Asia as its civil society has mobilized each time to resist the oppression of tyrants.
Blog Post May 9, 2024 Thailand Election: A New Beginning or Political Déjà Vu? Thailand’s general elections are set to be held on May 14. Up to 70 political parties, both big and small, are running candidates in these elections hoping to win seats in the parliament.
Blog Post May 9, 2024 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #23 n Nigeria, the director general of the Securities and Exchange Commission announced the government’s intention to delist the naira from peer-to-peer platforms, a move that would effectively trap the public inside the failing currency.
Blog Post May 3, 2024 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #22 This week news centered around the harassment of press freedom defenders through financial de-platforming. In Somalia, the regime froze the bank accounts of the Somali Journalist Syndicate (SJS).
Blog Post May 3, 2024 Capital Punishment in Vladimir Putin’s Russia On Monday, an independent polling organization reported that more than 50% of ordinary Russian citizens support bringing back the death penalty, yet another sign of the public’s growing approval of the use of capital punishment over the last 10 years.
Blog Post Apr 28, 2024 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #21 Last week, on halving day, the Human Rights Foundation launched the Finney Freedom Prize to honor the legacy of Hal Finney and inspire others to follow in his footsteps. As the world becomes increasingly digital, the fight for electronic privacy and cash becomes more and more important.
Blog Post Apr 22, 2024 Beyond Borders: China’s Attempts to Censor Global Academia The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is dedicated to perfecting its global narrative, employing a combination of coercion and co-optation tactics to shape public discourse both within China and abroad.
Blog Post Apr 18, 2024 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #20 Depending on your time zone, Bitcoin’s fourth halving will take place tomorrow or Saturday at block height of 840,000. Here’s a great 101 from Andreas Antonopolous on the basics of the halving, why it is important, and what he expects to happen as a result of Bitcoin issuance being cut in half.
Blog Post Apr 13, 2024 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #19 After five failed currencies in the last ten years, Zimbabwe is launching yet another currency. This time, one ostensibly backed by foreign reserves and precious metals. Observers, however, remain skeptical, questioning whether the regime will provide sufficient reserves to back up the new currency.
Blog Post Apr 8, 2024 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #18 This week’s news is led by the headline that SWIFT — the global messaging system for banks — is developing a central bank digital currency platform to facilitate the interoperability of CBDCs across the globe, most of which are being issued by authoritarian governments.
Blog Post Mar 28, 2024 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #17 In Hong Kong, lawmakers have passed a new national security law aimed at suppressing dissent among citizens. Meanwhile, the ruling Indian government has frozen the bank accounts of the Indian National Congress, the largest political opposition group in the country, further raising concerns over the erosion of freedom and democracy.
Blog Post Mar 27, 2024 Beyond Borders: China’s Grip on Global Media Controlling the public narrative is the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) modus operandi. It relies on narrative and revisionist storytelling to coerce its subjects into ideological adherence.
Blog Post Mar 21, 2024 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #16 We’re thrilled to announce that this week HRF granted $500,000 to 14 projects worldwide as part of its Bitcoin Development Fund.
Blog Post Mar 14, 2024 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #15 This past week, BRICS — an intergovernmental organization led by the Russian and Chinese dictatorships — explored the development of an independent payment system that aims to use digital currencies and potentially central bank digital currencies.
Blog Post Mar 12, 2024 Early Presidential Elections in Azerbaijan: Elections Without a Choice On Feb. 17, Azerbaijani dictator Ilham Aliyev, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz held a meeting on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.
Blog Post Mar 11, 2024 Venezuela expelled the UN: Why it matters By the end of this year, three of Latin America’s worst authoritarian regimes will undergo mandatory reviews of their country’s human rights record.
Blog Post Mar 8, 2024 Election Watch: Pakistan’s Contentious Elections On Thursday, Feb. 8, Pakistan, a country of 250 million people — the fifth most populous globally — hit the polls for its 12th general election. It came amid growing political and economic instability and a security crisis.
Blog Post Mar 7, 2024 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #14 This week’s news focuses on the growing interest in central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) from governments. Turkey concluded its initial research phase, while Ghana revealed ambitious plans to launch its own CBDC.
Blog Post Feb 29, 2024 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #13 This week, we witnessed a rise in state-level censorship in finance and communications. Honduran regulators banned the country’s financial institutions from trading in cryptocurrency; Nigerian officials restricted access to global cryptocurrency exchanges in a desperate attempt to stabilize its currency, the Naira; and Pakistan blocked access to the X platform for eight days straight amid political unrest.
