The Electronic Frontier Foundation has worked for more than three decades to defend free speech online, fight illegal surveillance, advocate for users and innovators, and support freedom-enhancing technologies. EFF has fought to clear the way for open source software, encryption, security research, file sharing, and important new technologies.

In the latest episode of the Plutopia News Network podcast, Plutopians speak with Cindy Cohn, Executive Director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), and Kevin Welch, President of EFF-Austin, about the history and evolving mission of EFF in defending digital rights. They discuss EFF’s ongoing battles against illegal surveillance, government overreach, and data misuse, especially under the second Trump administration. The conversation explores threats posed by the consolidation of government databases, the misuse of emerging technologies by law enforcement, and the need for decentralized, local activism. Emphasizing free speech, privacy, and the importance of empowering communities, the guests underscore both the urgency and the possibility of building a more just and secure digital future.

Cindy Cohn:

I take heart in the idea that we can change course if we want to. And we’re starting to see it. In some ways, the extreme moves of the second Trump administration have made a lot of people really recognize that they need to look for other ways. We hear from people all the time at EFF, just the list of people who want security trainings, who want to know how to use encryption, who want to know how to use technologies that stand with them and protect them has gone way, way up. And it’s not just human rights defenders and journalists who are always the canaries in the coal mine around these things. It’s a much wider range of people who want access to technologies that help protect them and that stand with them.