The Human Rights Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies.
In Burma, the military junta introduced a far-reaching cybersecurity law that criminalizes privacy tools like VPNs and mandates online platforms to store and share user data with state officials. This move intensifies state repression of civil society, leaving activists and citizens more vulnerable to surveillance.
In Russia, the State Duma passed sweeping amendments granting officials the ability to equate “funding extremist activities” with “financing terrorism.” These changes allow officials to label anyone accused of spreading “fake news” or “discrediting” the military and authorities as “terrorists and extremists.”
This week, governments and financial institutions around the world advanced policies that amplify the divide between state interests and the daily economic realities of citizens.
In Turkey, through years of double-digit inflation, the state has eroded the value of the country’s largest banknote, the 200-lira bill, whose purchasing power has plummeted from $140 in 2010 to just $5.80 today.
