Deborah Brown

Deborah Brown is Deputy Director for Technology, Rights and Investigations division at Human Rights Watch. Her areas of focus include platform accountability, cybercrime, and exploitation of personal data in elections. Previously as a senior researcher on technology and human rights at HRW she led investigations and advocacy in these areas.

Before joining Human Rights Watch, she worked at the Association for Progressive Communications as the global policy advocacy lead, where she worked with a global network of civil society organizations and led the organization’s engagement in UN processes. She led advocacy towards governments and companies on internet shutdowns, content moderation, surveillance, cybersecurity and online gender-based violence. Previously, Deborah worked at Access Now and the United Nations Foundation. Her research and commentary have been featured in outlets such as Al Jazeera, the Associated Press, CNN, the Economist, Forbes, Foreign Policy, The Guardian, the New York Times, Time Magazine.

She holds an M.A. in democracy and governance from Georgetown University and a B.A. in human rights and political science from Barnard College, Columbia University.