Protest is a cornerstone of some of history’s most powerful social movements, exposing injustice and abuse, demanding accountability and inspiring people to keep hoping for better. But protesters are facing increasing efforts by governments and other powerful interests to suppress their rights. Across the globe, the militarization of police forces, mistreatment by security forces at protests and shrinking civic space are making it harder for people to speak out.
This year, more than 92 bills targeting protesters were introduced in state legislatures around the US, according to ICNL’s legislative tracker. That’s more than double the number in 2021 and puts 2025 on pace to be the second-worst year for anti-protest legislation.
In Georgia, for example, hundreds of people have been prosecuted for their role in last summer’s largely peaceful protests against corruption. And authorities froze the bank accounts of seven rights groups for allegedly supporting demonstrators with masks, protective glasses and other gear they used during clashes with police.
Civil liberties advocates say the effort to weaponize criminal regulations against protesters raises concerns about the government’s legal reasoning and tactics. A POLITICO recording of a legal training session for officers deploying to protect besieged federal properties revealed that lawyers running the session extolled the “beauty” of a strategy they say could end up overcriminalizing protesters.
The issue is even more troubling for communities of color and other marginalized groups who face discrimination, harassment and violence when exercising their right to protest. For instance, the members of Les Hijabeuses, a French sports club for Muslim women, faced stigmatizing stereotypes when they sought to organize a demonstration to call attention to racial discrimination in French sport. Their fight to end discrimination in France’s sports continues.
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