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Liberties predicted 2024 would be a transition year. As 2025 kicks off, have we reached the light at the end of the tunnel, or are we still fumbling blindly through the darkness? Optimism is often in short supply in January and there are all too many valid reasons for being (I write this fresh from reading about Trump’s wrecking-ball of first week of Presidency).
In Europe, the cordon sanitaire - a strategy to isolate right-wing parties to keep them out of power - is buckling. On the EU-level, the EPP’s lack of political majority means it will need to form political alliances, which could include far-right parties. In Germany, the AfD is second in the polls ahead of parliamentary elections due to take place on 23rd February.
The success of right-wing parties in Europe is riding on a wave of discontentment and disillusionment, fuelled by an increasingly digitised, misinformed and polarised society. Tech billionaires like Elon Musk, who is stirring the pot in Europe’s domestic politics, and Mark Zuckerberg, who shut down Meta’s fact-checkers, profit from disinformation-riddled outrage clickbait.
It is tempting to stop reading the news and bury your head in the sand until things get better. And while we all need regular breaks to go outside and touch grass, we shouldn’t succumb to our feelings of hopelessness and disengage entirely. Instead of doubling down on division, we need to rally together and fight for our common goals - which for most people boil down to being safe, financially secure, and having a future we can be optimistic about. This starts with forging a shared sense of reality and finding new ways to communicate online and offline - even if we don’t always agree.
The EU should reassure us they are willing to listen and be held accountable on public interest issues - which is why the Commission put civil society on edge with its new policy that NGOs can’t use EU funding for their advocacy work. Liberties will be following this anti-democratic development, which risks creating a chilling effect, shrinking civic space and further empowering already-mighty corporate lobbyists.
To end things on a positive note, January 29th marks the beginning of the year of the snake, which symbolises renewal, wisdom, adaptability and resourcefulness. Even some snakes get into power, here’s hoping we can appeal to their better qualities.
In focus
Oppression Without Borders: Serbian Regime Detains, Expels Activists
Liberties was amongst 374 citizen organisations that signed a statement outlining deep concern in light of the detention and expulsion of activists on a study visit to Serbia. Read more.
New Year, New Chapter: Using the EU Charter to Ensure the right to International Protection
Liberties updated our handbook for NGOs on using the EU Charter for human rights litigation cases with a new section on international protection. Check it out here.
Maximizing Fundamental Rights Protections in the AI Act: Liberties’ Opinion on Definition and Prohibitions
The success of the AI Act hinges on the clarity and enforceability of its provisions. Vague language in the definition and the prohibitions creates loopholes that undermine the law’s intent to protect fundamental rights and safeguard the rule of law. Learn more.
In the news
Political Ads Op-ed: Why Should We Worry About Google’s Decision to Stop Serving Political Advertising in The EU? - EUObserver
Values-Based Framing: Liberties’ Head of Framing and Messaging Israel Butler was quoted for his expertise on how to talk to the public about human rights issues.
Fact: You won't convince anyone with facts about migration. This is how you tell a compelling progressive migration story - de Correspondent (originally published in Dutch)
'The progressive mindset is, “If other people don’t care enough about my issue, it’s because they don’t know enough, or they don’t know how bad it is.” So we bombard everyone with facts about how bad the planet is, or about the inhumane conditions in which migrants have to live. We hope that the terrible things will speak for themselves.' 'But the opposite is true. Everyone interprets information based on existing prejudices. For example, a prejudice around migration is that there are criminals among them. So if you show me migrants behind bars, I think: they must be criminals.'
How to Defeat the Far Right: We Need to Stop Farage, Elon Musk & Zuckerberg's New Right - Pod Save the UK (Jump to 43.22 is hear Israel's contribution)
If you are an activist or work for an NGO and want to learn more about our Values-Based Framing, check out Liberties’ resources which include training, messaging guides and free e-courses.
Meet Our Interns
We are delighted to have talented interns cutting their teeth with Liberties over the coming months. If you’re interested in a Berlin-based or remote internship with Liberties, we are accepting applications on a rolling basis.
Communications & Campaign Assistant
Development & Operations Assistant
Grace Chopra Whitten: Communications & Campaign Assistant
Grace Chopra Whitten earned a double major in Political Science and American Studies from the University of California, Berkeley. Prior to Liberties, she worked for an advocacy communications agency supporting clients in public health, education equity, DEI, and climate justice. Grace is passionate about finding engaging and persuasive ways to explain complex socio-political challenges.
Miles Höckel: Communications & Campaign Assistant
Miles Höckel graduated from the University of Oregon with a degree in political science, focusing on media studies and economic policy. Prior to joining Liberties, he served as the business manager for Waldsee and managed communications for the German Honorary Consulate in Portland, Oregon. Miles strives to make complex political issues clear and relevant for a broad audience.
Maria Elizaveta Liza Bolt: Advocacy & Research Assistant
Liza joined Liberties after earning a Bachelor’s degree in European Law and Dutch Law, followed by a Master's degree in European Law from Maastricht University. Through her numerous roles, she has developed research and long-term project management skills. Her interests include EU policy, constitutional law, AI and digital governance, human rights, and the rule of law & democracy.
Maria Barlika: Project Management Assistant
Maria recently completed her Master's degree in Human Rights at Lund University. During her studies, she extensively researched minority language rights and the vernacularization of human rights. Maria previously worked as a research intern at the European Center for Minority Issues, where she supported efforts in policy and media analysis related to minority rights. Her academic and professional interests include political participation, human rights, and project management.
Maximilian Soeren Pollak: Data Engineer Volunteer
Maximilian is a programmer from Germany. They help Liberties with data infrastructure and workflows, drawing on his previous experience in the fashion industry where they gained first-hand insight into how teams interact with and consume data. This background helps him create practical solutions from automating previously manual steps or bringing efficiency to processes that can't be fully automated.
Flore du Teilleul: Advocacy & Research Assistant
Flore joined Liberties after graduating with a Master in Public International Law specialising in Human Rights Law from the University of Groningen. She did her first internship at Liberties in 2024 during her Master’s program, working on the annual Rule of Law Gap analysis. Flore is interested in advocacy and research on the rule of law, democracy and Human Rights in Europe.
Nina Spencer: Advocacy & Research Assistant
Nina is an Australian lawyer with a background in international relations and public international law. Having recently graduated from her Master of Public International Law at the University of Amsterdam, she joins Liberties as an advocacy and research assistant in the Tech and AI team. Her interests include administrative law, digital governance, misinformation and indigenous self-determination.
Anastasiia Polezhaeva: Advocacy & Research Assistant
Anastasiia joined Liberties after earning an LLM in Human Rights from Central European University. She previously worked as a junior lawyer in Russia, specialising in corporate and migration law, drafting legal opinions, and contributing to legal reviews. Inspired by her experience growing up in a country with restricted civic freedoms, her interests include human rights law, civic space protections, and anti-corruption
Jessica Lim: Communications and Cybersecurity Assistant
Jessica began her career as a classically trained musician. Her interest in social issues and technology later led her to editorial work, focused on cybersecurity and digital media. She is now based in Germany where she studies Applied Computer Science and works on music and software development projects. At Liberties, she supports the communications team with data stack and cybersecurity work.
On our agenda over the coming months…
Here’s what you can expect from Liberties as 2025 kicks off:
- Liberties’ Rule of Law Report: In its sixth year, our flagship rule of law report will be bigger and better than ever this year, with even more countries joining our annual reporting cycle.
- Liberties’ Media Freedom Report: The European Media Freedom Act is partially in force, will it positively impact Europe’s media environment?
- Influencer Paper: How do influencers influence…for example, our elections? In our EU–wide analysis of political advertising during the European Parliamentary elections, we came across a wide array of ‘undercover’ political agents, who tried to persuade their audience how to vote.
- Cybersecurity course: Stay tuned for a free NGO-friendly e-course on how to protect against cyber attacks.
Resources
In this day and age, staying informed and playing an active role in shaping our future means overcoming hurdles our grandparents could never have imagined - like being able to spot deepfakes. However, they might know a thing or two about how to survive an authoritarian regime.
We’ve put together a list of resources which Liberties has found helpful, touching on topics such as not having time for despair, spotting disinformation and how to talk across the political divide.
This is not a depressing email about the state of the world
I Watched Orbán Destroy Hungary’s Democracy. Here’s My Advice for the Trump Era.
Big tech is picking apart European democracy, but there is a solution: switch off its algorithms
The Authoritarian Regime Survival Guide
What is Autocracy: Definition, Examples, How to Defeat it
11 Ways to Spot Disinformation on Social Media
Detect DeepFakes: How to counteract misinformation created by AI
Talking Across the Political Divide
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