Civil Liberties
1,361 Articles
Oversight Board’s First Rulings Show Facebook’s Rules Are a Mess
The company’s inability to enact a clear, consistent, transparent content-moderation policy may lead the board to overturn the decision to bar Trump.
The Biden Administration Should Drop the Assange Case
A coalition of press freedom, civil liberties, and human rights groups has formally asked the Justice Department to abandon its appeal and dismiss the underlying indictment of…
On Biden’s Planned Summit: Humility, Not Hubris, Can Save Democracy
The voices of those who have suffered most from democracy’s ills are crucial to understanding – and addressing -- the impact of backsliding laws, policies, and institutions…
US Human Rights Policy: How to Really Build Back Better
The Biden administration must create a system in which human rights and democracy policymaking is embedded and integrated in its decision-making machinery.
MLK Believed “No Justice, No Peace”
Arguments that the protests over the killings of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and countless others betray King’s legacy are not only in bad faith, but plainly wrong.
Incitement to Violence Ain’t Free Speech
The First Amendment protects abstract appeals for illegal actions. But there can and should be criminal liability for speech that incites the likely and imminent risk of violence.…
A Capitol Riot and Big Tech Takes a Stand: But Is It the One We Want?
To solve the numerous challenges linked to content moderation, the spread of incitement to violence, censorship etc., we certainly need standards based on human rights law, but…
A New Assault on a Democratic Citadel in Turkey, Too
A week before the Jan. 6 US Capitol attack, Turkey's president waged another kind of assault on one of his country’s last bastions of democratic thought.
Responding to the Capitol Attack: Accountability Without Overreaction
There are many indisputable facts about last week’s violent and deadly incursion into the Capitol building. It is beyond debate that the fiasco included multiple criminal acts.…
Ugandan Human Rights Lawyer Fights Charges on Eve of Presidential Election
Following a now-predictable pattern in the leadup to the polls, authorities have hastened arrests of political opponents and critics of President Museveni.
As China Promotes Authoritarian Model, the Resilience of Its Democratic Targets is Key
Pro-democracy political leaders, activists, and media can build on their successes against such influence with help from the world’s leading democracies.
Pandemic Consequences: The Acceleration of Confrontational Politics
The disruptive potential of this trend will remain a core challenge to political stability as the world staggers toward post-pandemic life.