Democratic Backsliding: Hungary As Blueprint

Room: Society, Sciences & Technology, 2nd Floor

In this dialogue, Ben Wizner (ACLU) & Stefánia Kapronczay (HCLU) discuss useful strategies for the defense of civil liberties when examining one another's national contexts, histories and political leadership. 

Ben Wizner is the director of the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project. For more than two decades at the ACLU, Ben has litigated cases involving the right to protest, freedom of expression online, government surveillance practices, targeted killing, and torture. Since July of 2013, he has been the principal legal advisor to NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. 

Stefánia Kapronczay has been a human rights defender for 20 years in Hungary, serving as one of the directors of the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union between 2013-2024. Under her leadership, the organization has adapted to the closing democratic space in Hungary. She has transformed the organization from predominantly deploying legal tools into a social change organization that supports citizens, grassroots and civil society organizations with the aim of inspiring hope in democracy. To achieve this goal, in 2024 they conducted in-person workshops for nearly 700 people, provided individualized legal counselling in over 4500 and legal representation in 120 cases. Their online right-to-know-materials were accessed by half a million unique visitors (in a country of 10 million). Their topics range from everyday problems, such as access to social services, labor rights to civil liberties, freedom of protest and speech. Furthermore, under Stefania's leadership the organization focused on narrative building on active citizenship and the power of rights for change to mobilize and motivate citizens.