“5 things to know about the decline of human rights”, 9 December 2016

…The space for civic freedoms is being gradually restricted…Methods range from the suppression of mass protest and silencing of individual protesters to technological intrusions and burdensome regulatory measures…[I]n the current context of heightened security concerns and terrorist threats, governments have promulgated security measures and new regulatory frameworks...The trade-off between keeping people safe and protecting their freedoms…has not always been managed in a balanced way, with evidence showing the disproportionate impact of some of these measures on civil-society organizations…Human rights defenders have been pushing back, turning to international solidarity for raising awareness of the issue and to innovative solutions and alliances for defending the space for civic freedoms…Businesses have also started playing a role, with human rights defenders having increasingly called on to them to support the promotion and protection of human rights. There are many interesting examples of businesses publicly raising their voices against attempts to limit civil-society activities…