Protecting Human Rights in the Age of AI

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming how we live, work, and communicate. While AI promises many benefits, it also raises significant risks for human rights, privacy, and democracy. Without careful oversight, AI technologies can enable mass surveillance, amplify discrimination, restrict freedom of expression, and concentrate power in the hands of corporations and governments.

At Freedom Person, we believe AI must be developed and deployed in a way that protects and promotes fundamental human rights. This manifesto outlines our core principles and policy demands to ensure AI advances justice, equity, and freedom in the digital age.

Why We Need Strong AI Protections

1. Privacy under Threat
   AI systems often rely on vast amounts of personal data, frequently collected without meaningful consent. Technologies like facial recognition enable intrusive surveillance that undermines individual privacy and chills free speech.

2. Lack of Transparency and Accountability
   Many AI algorithms operate as “black boxes,” making decisions that affect lives without clear explanations or oversight. This opacity hides biases and errors that can harm marginalized groups.

3. Amplification of Bias and Inequality
   AI trained on biased data risks reinforcing and worsening social inequalities, disproportionately impacting communities of color and vulnerable populations.

4. Power Imbalance: Corporations and Governments
   When AI serves narrow corporate profits or authoritarian control, it threatens democratic values and concentrates influence away from the people.

5. Widening the Digital Divide
   Unequal access to AI technologies and digital resources risks leaving marginalized communities further behind in economic and social opportunities.

6. Threats from Centralized Regulation
   Federal laws that preempt state and local efforts to regulate AI weaken grassroots protections and remove the ability of communities to tailor rules to their needs.

Freedom Person’s Core Demands

1. Prioritize Data Protection and Privacy
We demand strong legal limits on collecting, storing, and using personal data without explicit, informed consent. Mass surveillance technologies — such as facial recognition — that violate privacy and threaten free expression must be banned.

2. Require Transparency and Accountability in AI Systems
AI developers and vendors must disclose the origins of their data, detail how they assess and mitigate bias, and provide mechanisms for independent oversight and public accountability.

3. Ensure AI Serves Society, Not Just Power or Profit
AI design and deployment must be grounded in values of freedom, equality, and human dignity. Civil society, human rights defenders, and affected communities must have a seat at the table throughout AI development processes.

4. Bridge the Digital Divide and Promote Equal Access
We call for investments in education, digital literacy, and infrastructure to guarantee that marginalized groups can fully participate in and benefit from AI-driven opportunities.

5. Protect Local Authority to Regulate AI
We oppose federal preemption laws that block states, cities, and communities from enacting stronger AI regulations to protect their citizens’ digital rights.

AI holds tremendous promise but also poses serious threats if left unchecked. Freedom Person is committed to defending digital rights by pushing for policies that put people first — ensuring AI is transparent, accountable, fair, and inclusive. Together, we can shape a future where technology empowers everyone, not just the powerful.

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