Our Scans · Civil Rights · Weekly Summary

• For the first time, internet access will be officially recognized as a civil right in Bangladesh. Times of India
• DHS's own use of AI will be achieved responsibly, while advancing equity and appropriately safeguarding privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties. U.S. Department of Homeland Security
• Harvard University is claiming that the federal government did not conduct a meaningful investigation of campus antisemitism following the Trump administration's threat to cut all funding from Harvard for violating federal civil rights law. Counter Extremism Project
• DHS will continue to implement safeguards for privacy, transparency, civil rights, and civil liberties when developing and adopting policies and throughout the performance of its mission to ensure that homeland security programs uphold privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties. U.S. Department of Homeland Security
• President Trump's executive orders (EO) ending illegal DEI programs in the federal government and directing federal agencies to combat illegal discrimination and preferences in the private sector will set into motion the rapid decline of corporate DEI programs that violate civil rights laws. Alliance Advisors
• Illinois and Texas established taskforces to study the use of AI in education and in government systems and the potential harms AI could cause to civil rights. Hintze
• During the Biden administration, federal agencies began to develop guardrails to protect people when AI threatened their civil rights or safety. American Civil Liberties Union
• The potential for regression in civil rights protections, especially under administrations that may prioritize partisan agendas over equitable governance, raises alarms about the future of democracy in the United States. Forward Pathway
• The Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (HHS OCR) has reopened the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) audit program and will begin audits of HIPAA-regulated entities later in 2024. Healthcare Risk Management - July 1, 2024
• A federal court ruling is teeing up another major Supreme Court case that could radically weaken the Voting Rights Act by blocking private citizens and civil rights groups from filing lawsuits to protect what has become America's bedrock voting protections. The Independent
• The rise of antisemitism has made it harder for Jews to live in Europe and the US, and it is a threat to both civil liberties, civil rights, and public safety. American University
• The Office for Civil Rights is warning covered entities that they might be sharing protected health information with third-party tracking vendors like Facebook and Google through their use of pixel tech, in a manner that violates the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. SC Media
• Multiculturalism's antipathy to republicanism - always implicit, now increasingly explicit - is lamentable, not least because it discredits the necessary, noble endeavour of vindicating America's experiment in self-government by securing civil rights and economic opportunity for all its citizens. Claremont Review of Books
• Texas laws that curtail civil rights will further repel businesses, especially when competition for skilled workers is intense. Houston Chronicle
• The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights has released two new patient privacy resources that healthcare organizations can use to educate patients about reducing their risks of a breach of their protected health information when using telemedicine technologies. Healthcare IT News
• Threats against public officials have been steadily climbing in recent years, creating new challenges for law enforcement, civil rights and the health of American democracy. The Independent
• While face recognition is banned by law, civil rights groups express concerns that other AI-powered surveillance methods could threaten civil liberties and fear that the French government may make the Olympics security provisions permanent. ChatGPT Performance Drifts, Apple Grapples With Generat
• Israel's LGBTQ community has become a key pillar of the protest movement against the planned judicial overhaul, spurred in part by fears of civil rights being curtailed and violated. haaretz.com
• More attorneys general may seek similar powers from their state legislatures, and the U.S. Department of Justice's civil rights division might find new allies in overhauling troubled police departments. The New York Times
• The success of Taiwan's democracy is a standing rebuke to the Chinese Communist Party because it shows that the Chinese people could be trusted with free elections, freedom of speech, and all the other civil rights the Taiwanese now enjoy. Australian Financial Review
• The dearth of nominees offered in southern states, notably where both US senators are Republican, threatens to undercut Biden's large-scale effort to counteract Trump's effect on the federal judiciary, particularly to bolster civil rights and ensure voter protections. CNN
• Several civil rights groups and advocacy organizations are asking Boston officials to cease plans to spend $1.4 million on software that will allow police to monitor people's social media activity. Winter Watch

Last updated: 23 June 2026