Forum @ NED

Learn more about how China's digital authoritarianism is impacting Iran in our latest Democracy's Horizons piece with @michaelcaster: thinkdemocracy.substack.com/p/autocrats-ar…

🌅 In this week's #ThoughtsOnTheHorizon, we’re looking at the cancellation of RightsCon in Lusaka 🇿🇲, and how China’s exports of digital authoritarianism or other forms of authoritarian influence might impact civil society and democratic development in places like Zambia. “Because Zambia both strongly relied on Chinese surveillance technology and stated that China is a central influence on how it manages technology domestically, I placed it in the core of China’s technosphere. Only 7 other countries displayed such deep influence at the time [of my 2021 research]: Egypt, Iran, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, Vietnam and Zimbabwe.” 📝 In his latest Technosphere Substack, Forum collaborator @weberv_ examines the increasing digital partnerships between Lusaka and Beijing, from “Safe City” surveillance technologies to alleged intercepting of digital communications between journalists. The use of these digital tools- combined with the abrupt cancellation of the world’s largest digital rights conference- represents a new wave of digital authoritarianism impacting democracies like Zambia and autocracies like Iran. Full article here ➡️ chinatechnosphere.substack.com/p/how-china-bu…

As AI technologies go mainstream, a central question remains: will they strengthen freedom or entrench authoritarian control? At @scsp_ai AI+Expo, @NEDemocracy, @IRIglobal, and @CIPEglobal brought together tech experts, policymakers, and democracy advocates to discuss how new AI tools and models can push back against censorship, surveillance, and authoritarian control. Together, they explored how the future of this technology can be grounded in democratic principles that protect fundamental freedoms.

Want to hear more? Join us, @IRIglobal, & @CIPEglobal today at @SCSP_ai's AI+ Expo to hear from foresighted thought-leaders in the democratic tech space who will outline the promises—and perils—that AI & other cutting-edge tools hold for freedom's future. buff.ly/o2C9Gjr

Read more about how authoritarians and democracy actors battle for technology’s future impact: buff.ly/3NBD2Lg

In a new Democracy’s Horizons Substack piece, @michaelcaster describes how the theocratic regime in Tehran is importing both hardware and normative frameworks from China to more effectively close off the open internet. He helps us understand what it means for the rest of us, too. substack.com/home/post/p-19…

During his fellowship presentation, Ambassador @AShevch, Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellow at @NEDemocracy, reflected on launching @CenterUkraine. #Ukraine’s media coverage efforts were built at the grassroots level and pivoted from peacetime to serve as an “iron shield” against the Kremlin’s aggression.

Join us this Thursday (1:00 - 4:20 PM) at @scsp_ai’s AI+ Expo in Washington to hear some of the world’s leading experts on freedom technology lay out a blueprint of AI for democracy – and not repression. @NEDemocracy, @IRIglobal, and @CIPEglobal will convene two panels, and lightning talks moderated by the Forum’s director @ksheives. Location: Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Room 154A/B Register (for free) to attend: expo.scsp.ai/register/

Following this past weekend’s #WorldPressFreedomDay, we recognize the indispensable and fundamental rights of journalists to report the facts free from censorship or coercion. In autocracies, journalists and civic actors use novel, creative means to expose and bypass government propaganda. We look back to a panel we held in October, featuring the voices of several courageous journalists and activists working to break thorough censorship in autocratic settings like Iran, Nicaragua, and Tibet. Today and every day, we stand with them and their work. youtube.com/watch?v=ceDoXa…

Ukrainian civil society has become an “iron shield” — a powerful force for national defense in the face of war. The Forum hosted Ambassador @AShevch's Reagan-Fascell Fellowship presentation at @NEDemocracy, where he discussed how Ukraine’s civil society resilience provides a path to sustain democratic strength and deterrence in the face of authoritarian adversaries.

Supporting democracy means more than funding courageous work—it means protecting the people behind it. Democracy activists often face arrest, exile, harassment, or death. Sometimes even their families face retaliation. “Protecting At-Risk Democracy Activists: NED’s Approach” explains why NED protects sensitive information about grantees, how its duty of care supports the people advancing freedom, and how NED balances discretion with accountability even in some of the world’s most repressive environments. Learn more: ned.org/protecting-at-…

The Forum spoke with AC’s @NSC and @dgapev’s @weberv_ about the Orwellian nature of Venezuela's tech-enabled surveillance capacities – and how the PRC provided them with much of the needed hardware. Listen to that interview here: power3point0.org/2024/06/13/dig…

Nicolás Maduro may be gone, but Venezuelans still live under a repressive surveillance state. Tune in tomorrow (03/26) for the @AtlanticCouncil event, “Watch the Watchers: Surveillance Technologies for Political Control in Venezuela." The panel will be moderated by the Forum’s own Beth Kerley and will feature the launch of a report detailing the most comprehensive documentation of Caracas’s surveillance system to date. atlanticcouncil.org/event/how-vene…

In January, Lopez spoke passionately at @nedemocracy’s Lipset Lecture about how freedom tech can flip the script on autocrats, and “make democratic movements more effective and more capable of bringing that transition from democracy to autocracy.” youtube.com/live/j8Zec_ASZ…

Earlier this month, @leopoldolopez @bertavalle and @AnaiseKanimba joined @PubKey DC to discuss how open technologies can empower democracy advocates in autocratic societies. youtube.com/watch?v=ZqYwTp…