Repression of activists, human rights defenders, and journalists no longer stops at national borders. States increasingly extend their reach beyond their territories to silence critics, intimidate dissidents and suppress or criminalise human rights work conducted outside a country’s borders. This phenomenon is known as transnational repression.
In the increasingly digital world, transnational repression is also amplified by digital technologies. Digital transnational repression refers to the use of digital technologies by states or their proxies to monitor, intimidate, silence, or otherwise suppress individuals or groups across borders. These tactics could include digital surveillance, online harassment, disinformation or smear campaigns, and the deployment of spyware. Artificial Intelligence also plays an increasing role in the repressive states’ toolbox, as outlined in ECNL’s report ‘Automating Repression Beyond Borders: How AI is Powering Transnational Repression’.
Civil society now has a chance to contribute its evidence and experience to inform the work of the UN General Assembly and Human Rights Council. The UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association is gathering input until 30 November 2026.
We would love to hear from you about your experiences, evidence of (digital) transnational repression from your country, and recommendations that we can embed in ECNL’s response to the consultation.
How to contribute?
Please fill out the structured form alongside questions put forward by the Special Rapporteur. You can submit your input anonymously or choose to be acknowledged in the submission. Find the form here.
Contribution deadline: 22 November 2026. After this, we will analyse the input and prepare the final submission.
We are gathering information about digital transnational repression on behalf of the Civil Society Alliances for Digital Empowerment (CADE), a project co-funded by the European Union. Input submitted to the UN Special Rapporteur will reflect the views of the authors and respondents. Its contents are the sole responsibility of ENCL and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union. Read more about the project here.