Dear Friend,

We’re really happy you’re part of our work, whether you’re someone who donates, shares our content, talks to friends and family about the issues we bring you or you’re just following what we do. However you’re involved, you’re playing a role in making sure that our elected representatives protect our freedoms and give all of us the same opportunities to thrive.

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by problems when the news shows us one crisis after another. Whether it’s war on our borders, soaring prices, the changing climate or continued attacks by authoritarians and Big Tech on our freedoms. So we wanted to remind you of some of the things we’ve achieved together this year.We hope we can count on your continued support as we look forward to another year of helping each other use our rights to build the lives we want to live and the communities we want to live in.

And if you’d like to take your support for us to the next level, you can make a donation and contribute to our continued success into 2023.

Rule of Law: EU uses our unique, in-depth report to turn up the heat.

This year Liberties published our third annual rule of law report. The report gives the European Commission and democracy-friendly governments information they otherwise wouldn’t have which they use to put legal and political pressure on back-sliding regimes in the EU. Thanks to the incredible collaborative effort of our member organizations, our report provides an independent account of how democracy is faring in EU countries. It is the most comprehensive assessment in the EU by an NGO network.

Media Freedom: lawmakers take on our recommendations to protect independent journalism.

In 2022 Liberties published our first ever Media Freedom Report revealing how free media is curtailed in 15 countries. Thanks to the evidence in our Report, European lawmakers passing the new Media Freedom Act listened to our recommendations for new rules that will keep journalists free to report the truth. This makes it easier for ordinary people like you and me to pick leaders who work to solve the issues we care about like rising energy costs or protecting our environment.

Training for campaigners: helping activists around the EU to win on the causes you care for.

From climate justice to migration, our right to protest to a woman’s right to choose, there are rights groups all over the EU working on a cause close to your heart. But winning over public support can be hard. So Liberties trains and mentors activists to boost the power of their campaigns. This year we trained over 120 staff from dozens of organisations.

Mass surveillance: fending off clumsy, democracy-killing EU regulation.

Once again, the EU is trying to introduce mass surveillance and scrap encryption, which we rely on to keep our mail private. In previous years it was in the name of fighting terrorism and crime. The courts struck it down. Today it’s in the name of fighting child sexual exploitation. The new legislative proposal won’t protect our children. But it will allow authoritarian governments to spy on journalists, political opponents and activists. We’ve already called out the Commission on its double fail, and next year we’ll be pressing negotiators to find ways of keeping both our kids and our democracy safe.

Targeted political ads: protecting voters from manipulation.

Liberties’ conducted research which revealed that in recent elections, political movements covertly manipulate voters by tailoring political ads. We’re happy the EU is taking our concerns seriously, but the cure it’s proposed is as bad for our democracies as the disease. In 2023 we’ll be pushing law-makers to ensure that the proposal is amended to keep our democracies healthy and working for all of us.

2022 has shown us that when we join our voices and our resources together lawmakers have to listen to us. With your help, we’re pushing back against Big Tech, authoritarian regimes and clumsy EU overreach.
During 2022 we’ve seen that when we join our voices and our resources together lawmakers have to listen to us. We look forward to your continued support for more wins in 2023.

Take care,
Balazs & the Liberties Team