American civil society groups are facing an increasing number of dangers amid attacks on democratic institutions and values. Attacks on the right to free speech and new limitations on protest have increased recently, especially at the state level. Legal and political intimidation measures that have been used to harass and intimidate activists in Hungary, India, Turkey, and other regressing democracies are becoming increasingly commonplace for civil society groups and activists. According to former President Trump’s campaign remarks on this lobby, government experience, and his supporters’ policies, these tendencies could accelerate under a second Trump administration.
Transnational threats to civic freedom
Regardless of the election’s result, there will probably still be difficulties at the state level. They demand that civil society groups and philanthropic players work together to defend civic liberties in general and the nonprofit sector in the United States in particular. Limitations on the freedom of association and advocacy, as well as civil society, have been hallmarks of the global democratic recession that has swept over the globe in the last twenty years. Antidemocratic leaders have been more adept at utilizing intimidation, stigmatizing narratives, harassment, and legal and administrative strategies to undermine their opponents than they have at using physical force to silence dissident voices. However, groups and activists have also gained invaluable knowledge on how to adapt, endure, and retaliate, as have their global friends. US civil society organizations and foundations may learn from their experiences in this lobby as they prepare for both current and upcoming threats. Civil society groups should first conduct comprehensive internal risk assessments to strengthen their defenses against future assaults. The suggestion that US groups’ circumstances are similar to those of human rights advocates in Egypt, El Salvador, or other nations with harsh official repression may be met with resistance.
Comparative analysis of civic space legislation
However, a wide range of threats face US activists and civil society organizations, including state surveillance, politically motivated subpoenas and investigations, vilification by public officials, arrests of journalists and protesters, and online and offline abuse, doxxing, and intimidation by extremist actors. To make sure that businesses are not caught off guard, security assessments and risk management strategies may assist reduce some of these risks and provide procedures for addressing others. Many tools have been developed by foundations and organizations that support activists in difficult political environments to assist advocates in developing strategies that are specific to the situation. Examples of these tools include the Front Line Defenders Workbook on Security, Security in a Box, Totem’s digital security training, and the Holistic Security Manual created by Tactical Tech. Numerous of these tools provide US firms with useful insights, particularly in the increasingly important field of cybersecurity.
Strategic partnerships for US democracy defense
Resources and training are also available through recent US-focused efforts like the NGO Information Sharing and Analysis Center (NGO-ISAC). Organizations should, for instance, take into account how employees use and interact on social networking sites and what precautions they might take to manage dangers and prevent doxxing. The financing of security training and protective measures ought to be included in grants from philanthropic foundations as well, as several donors that collaborate with human rights groups worldwide have done recently. Experiences abroad provide even more lessons that are applicable back home. For starters, civil society activists operating in unstable and divisive political contexts emphasize that dealing with online abuse and harassment as well as working on challenging issues may lead to stress, fatigue, and burnout even when there are no direct dangers to their safety. So, in addition to providing physical, digital, and legal safety for employees, holistic security policies should also include steps to safeguard their mental health and general well-being.
US civic space through an international lens
A further realization is the significance of seeing safety from a group perspective rather than an individual one. As part of coalitions and communities rather than as isolated entities, organizations, and advocates face risks and grow resilient. Therefore, collective protection approaches aim to strike a balance between immediate responses to pressing threats and longer-term initiatives to strengthen the sustainability and cohesion of networks, communities, and organizations. Some examples of these initiatives include creating cooperative safety protocols, resolving internal conflicts within organizations, and conducting collective threat analyses. Politicians who espouse antidemocratic and illiberal views frequently target their opponents by intensifying the politicized and selective implementation of current laws and regulations. For example, the government of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in Hungary has targeted independent civil society groups with tax audits.
