Knowledge is power. Your contribution counts.

As I braved the streets of Berlin on May Day this year, I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of optimism for democracy. The (mostly) peaceful coexistence between the ravers/protestors and the police stationed at every corner is a far cry from the scenes described by my neighbours, who remember violent clashes from the 90s riots before the state-founded celebratory MyFest was introduced in 2003. Just imagine the progress that could be achieved if today’s politicians applied such elegant (and fun) logic to repair Europe’s crumbling democracies.

April saw the launch of the Liberties Media Freedom Report 2026 - an offshoot of our recently published Rule of Law Report 2026. A popular topic amongst journalists (who would have thought), it received over 70 media coverages and counting. Our overarching findings can be summed up as follows: despite new rules coming into force, government inertia (and uncooperativeness) means many areas have gotten worse rather than better. Read the blog and full report linked below to learn more.

Finally, it was a sad day for the parish as Liberties bid adieu to Orsi (Dr. Orsolya Reich), who has moved to Brussels to start a new position. One of the OG Liberties staff, she will be dearly missed. We wish her all the best in her new role!

In Focus

To Ban or not to Ban? Online Political Advertisements in the Hungarian Election

We published our last piece of monitoring reports, in which we investigated the developments in Hungary’s online political environment during the official campaign for the 12 April 2026 parliamentary elections. The paper examines how political influence shifted across Meta’s services, TikTok, and YouTube after major platforms suspended political advertising in the EU.

The evidence confirms earlier findings: removing formal political advertising channels did not reduce online attempts to influence voters. Instead, influence shifted to less transparent methods, including undeclared political advertising, proxy pages, coordinated inauthentic behaviour, and paid influencer outreach outside standard systems. This indicates widespread sponsor non-compliance with TTPA transparency obligations and inadequate platform responses to circumvention of political advertising bans. Read more and access the full reports on our website. 

AI and Health Project

AI is rapidly transforming healthcare with immense growth potential, but its deployment faces critical risks related to data transparency, security breaches, biases, and accountability that threaten patient safety and human rights.

Liberties, with 8 of its member and partner organisations, has filed freedom of information requests to a number of hospitals and public health institutions in the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Malta, Hungary, Belgium, Germany, Romania, and the Czech Republic to uncover how health data is sourced, shared, and used in AI systems, gathering the evidence needed to advocate for stronger regulation and oversight. In the coming weeks, we will start the litigation process in countries where institutions are irresponsible to civil society oversight. 

To challenge the current environment and promote more responsible health data practices, we have embarked on this project to leverage the full potential of existing legal frameworks as powerful tools for health data accountability. 

The research is lead by Júlia Keserű and the project is funded by AI Collaborative. 

• Coming soon: Capacity building and training for watchdog organisations across the EU, plus relevant policy recommendations and advocacy strategies. Stay tuned!

How To Restore The Dismantled Rule Of Law In Hungary

For more than a decade, the Hungarian government systematically dismantled every aspect of the rule of law. Here are three areas that the new government and the European Commission should focus on. Read more here.

Messaging That (Re)Builds Public Support For Civic Space

A new guide from Liberties sets out what messaging helps to grow support for NGOs working on human rights-related issues like environmental protection and migration. Read it here.

Media Freedom Report

EU Media Freedom Worsens Amid Political Inertia to Implement New Rules 

Media freedom worsened in 2025 despite new legislation, as journalist attacks rose, public broadcasters faced political pressure, and governments dragged their feet on enforcement. Learn more. 

In the News

Media freedom ‘under sustained attack’ across EU as public trust drops, report finds - The Guardian

Irish trust of media 'relatively high' but EU press freedom 'under sustained attack' , report finds  - Irish Examiner

'When media freedom goes, the rest is not far behind', campaigner says - France24 (video)

Opacity, political interference, and journalists at risk - Il Corriere Nazionale (Italian)

Arte Journal (video 3.30 - German)

Member's Corner 

• Bulgaria Surveillance Ruling: The ECtHR ruled against Bulgaria in favour of our Bulgarian member in the case of Kanev and the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee for failing to protect civil society activists and human rights groups from unlawful surveillance and arbitrary data processing by the State Agency for National Security. The Court found that victims lack an effective way to challenge such surveillance. Get the full story. 
• Community Empowerment: As part of the EQUAL project, CILD, our Italian member, held two Community Empowerment workshop pathways - one dedicated to Roma and Sinti communities and one for migrant people or with a migration background. Over ten sessions, participants explored themes of privilege, intersectionality, gender roles and self-representation through experiential methods such as sharing circles and role play, in a safe space for reflection and collective advocacy. The project continues in May with three focus groups involving members of both communities and legal professionals. Read more here.
• In other news... Join CILD on May 22, 2026 for the final event of the European project CEPOV ‘Addressing the gap in multidisciplinary cooperation to enhance the protection of victims’. The event will take place in person for project partners, but it will be possible to participate online. To participate remotely, contact info@cild.eu by May 10th. Learn more. 
• Media Freedom Win: The Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation helped journalists regain access to Malta’s beneficial ownership register without requiring case-by-case permission. After Malta restricted access following a 2022 CJEU privacy ruling, a later clarification confirmed that journalists and civil society organisations may access such data when they have a legitimate interest. Working with the Malta Business Registry, the Foundation supported the implementation of these rules, strengthening transparency and accountability in investigations into corporate ownership and money laundering. Learn more. 

Meet Our Members

Human Rights Work Is Not Just A Profession I Meet Our Members

Meet Zuzanna Nowicka, Lawyer (Freedom of Expression Programme) at the Polish Helsinki Foundation For Human Rights. Read her authentic and emotional perspective on human rights work. 

What We Read/Watched

Father raises concerns over Irish activist's trial in Germany - RTE (Video)

EU in talks with Hungary’s Péter Magyar on workaround for frozen funds - Financial Times

Who will make up Magyar’s new Hungarian government? Meet the team shaping up to be Tisza’s first cabinet - EUObserver

Tinker Tailor Campaigner Spy - POLITICO

Illiberalism Is Not Inevitable - The Atlantic 

Value knowledge by supporting Liberties

All great movements begin with sharing information. Our explainer articles help you understand the most pressing human rights issues, so together we can stand up for what matters. Support us by buying one of our activist authors a cup of coffee.

Add your voice to ours. Donate today.