Isabel Linzer

Isabel Linzer is a research analyst focusing on transnational repression. She is a co-author of Freedom House's two reports on transnational repression, Defending Democracy in Exile and Out of Sight, Not Out of Reach. Isabel has worked on a range of research at Freedom House, most recently leading Election Watch for the Digital Age, which tracks the interplay of elections, internet platforms, and human rights around the world. Isabel previously coordinated research on sub-Saharan Africa for the organization’s flagship report on political rights and civil liberties, Freedom in the World, and its annual study of internet freedom, Freedom on the Net. Her writing has been published in The Washington Post, Slate, African Arguments, and Just Security, among others. Before joining Freedom House, Isabel worked at the National Democratic Institute, supporting the organization’s international election observation mission to Liberia’s 2017 presidential election. Isabel holds a B.A. in government and French from Wesleyan University. 

Selected Publications: 

• The Long Arm of Authoritarianism | Foreign Affairs - June 2, 2022
• Russia's Invasion of Ukraine Imperils Human Rights Defenders and Political Exiles | Just Security - March 3, 2022
• Digital Technology Helps Governments Target Critics Across Borders | Slate - February 24, 2021
• The Africans in exile who live in fear of transnational repression | Mail & Guardian - February 4, 2021
• How the coronavirus could trigger a backslide on freedom around the world | The Washington Post - March 16, 2020
• West Africa's Democratic Progress is Slipping Away, Even as Region's significance Grows | Just Security - March 9, 2020