We attended the Oslo Freedom Forum last month. Ahmed (@Gatnash) sat down with Alex Gladstein (@Gladstein) to get an introduction to the forum, and speak about their goals and some of their achievements, as well as some of Alex’s research on dictatorships use of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and other development statistics.
Author Archives: Alex Gladstein
The Kim-Trump Summit Is a Tragedy for the North Korean People
As U.S. president Donald Trump prepares to sit down with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un Tuesday in Singapore, it has emerged that the U.S. government has decided not to mention human rights at all during the talks.
How the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals undermine democracy
SDGs are pushing an agenda carefully calibrated to avoid upsetting the world’s dictators, kleptocrats, and human rights offenders.
The First Crypto War
Think Bitcoin and crypto assets are just vehicles for speculation? They’re already having both a positive impact and negative impact when it comes to human rights, says Alex Gladstein, chief strategy officer for the Human Rights Foundation. Gladstein talks about how he first became enamored with Bitcoin because of its potential to solve hyperinflation, and why he believes Venezuela is the site of the world’s first crypto war. He also covers why repressive governments are excited by centralized cryptocurrencies, why impact investing focused on the UN sustainable goals will not address human rights issues, and why blockchain-based elections, which many believe could be fair and transparent, could instead be terribly corrupt.
Why Dictators Love Development Statistics
The problem with using statistics to sing the praises of autocracy is that collecting verifiable data inside closed societies is nearly impossible. From Ethiopia to Kazakhstan, the data that “proves” that an authoritarian regime is doing good is often produced by that very same regime.
They’re an easily faked way to score international points.
Abdalaziz Alhamza and Trevor Timm with Alex Gladstein | AGG 2018
Tech platforms have spurred revolutions and stoked extremism. What is technology’s role in protecting the fourth estate and the journalists within it? Abdalaziz Alhamza, Co-Founder of RBSS, Trevor Timm, Co-Founder & ED of Freedom of the Press Foundation; and Alex Gladstein, Chief Strategy Officer at Human Rights Foundation discuss.
Flash Drives for Freedom’: How smuggled western media could take down Kim Jong-un
In the northwestern corner of South Korea, visitors to the city of Paju can peer through binoculars across the DMZ into the North. Paju is the site of The Bridge of No Return, an archaic link between the two warring Koreas that, decades ago, was used to exchange prisoners. Paju witnessed some of the hardest fought battles during the KoreanContinue reading “Flash Drives for Freedom’: How smuggled western media could take down Kim Jong-un”
The Atlantic Council’s questionable relationship with Gabon’s leader
SDGs are pushing an agenda carefully calibrated to avoid upsetting the world’s dictators, kleptocrats, and human rights offenders.
Why Did the Atlantic Council Even Consider Giving African Dictator Ali Bongo Ondimba a ‘Global Citizen Award’?
Gabon’s president is an outlandishly corrupt autocrat who probably just stole an election. Why did a venerated Washington think tank offer to toast him at a black-tie gala?
Meet the group trying to take down North Korea with USB sticks
Often referred to as “The Hermit Kingdom,” North Korea is one of the most closed societies in the world.
alexgladstein.com 