Bi-weekly News & Opinion - September 17, 2026

PeaceCon 2027: Request for Proposals 

The Alliance for Peacebuilding is hosting its annual peacebuilding conference, PeaceCon, this January 2027 from the 11th to the 14th in Washington DC, and is inviting peacebuilders from all over the world to share their ideas for interactive 75-minute sessions, workshops, or other convenings to be held at the conference. At PeaceCon 2027, participants are invited to work together and think boldly on how we can leverage current crises as an opportunity to reenvision and mobilize support for a peace-centered policy and assistance architecture in the United States and globally.  

• The deadline for submissions is 11:59PM ET on Friday, Sep. 18. 
• Read the full call for submission and guidelines here. 
• Please reach out to afp-ops@allianceforpeacebuilding.org with any questions.

Consider registering as a C&SN Member (no financial commitment required) to receive our weekly Opportunity Spotlight Newsletter. There we share exclusive opportunities for civil society input, webinars, events, and working groups on key issue areas such as sanctions, material support, financial access, lawfare, civil society rights and resiliency, human rights in counter-terrorism and more. 

UN Special Rapporteur Report: Distinguishing Organized Crime from Terrorism to Protect Human Rights

C&SN’s analysis was cited by UN special rapporteur on counterterrorism and human rights, Ben Saul, in a new report exploring the trend of applying terrorism designations to organized crime groups, how this conflation impacts human rights and civil society, and alternatives for effectively addressing issues related to organized crime. Saul echoes C&SN’s concerns on how “material support” to terrorism threatens to implicate innocents who have incidental or forced contact with proscribed groups, and cited C&SN' analysis on how directives in Trump’s Executive Order 14406 linking financial crime risk to accounts of undocumented immigrants violates rules to combating terrorism finance required by human rights laws and the Financial Action Task Force. Read the full report here. (July 2026)

How The War on Terror Continues To Terrorize Communities 25 Years Later

Trump’s issuance of NSPM-7 and the targeting of protesters as "domestic terrorists” has “only been made possible because of the legal frameworks and erosion of legal safeguards that have accompanied 25 years of the so-called War on Terror.” Read more from Tina Al-Khersan and Azadeh Shahshahani at In These Times. (Sep. 10)

Is it OK to Take ‘Tainted Money’?

Nonprofits should replace groveling with accountability when negotiating with grant makers, and challenge pressures they may feel from Trump to crack down on progressive causes. Listen to the podcast at Devex. (Sep. 8)

Explore a full list of resources designed to support the nonprofit sector as they prepare and respond to lawsuits, disinformation, and other forms of attack on civil society at C&SN’s Civil Society Rights & Resiliency hub.

FBI Builds Out National NSPM-7 Center to Track Dissent, Docs Show

Agents and analysts from the IRS and other federal agencies are working with the FBI at the recently established “NSMP-7 Joint Mission Center” in a collective effort to crack down on dissent. Josh Kovensky reports for Talking Points Memo. (Sep. 15)

Florida Cabinet Approves Process to Designate CAIR and Others as Domestic Terrorist Groups

On Sep. 11, Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet approved a rule allowing the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s to designate groups as domestic or foreign terrorist organizations within the state, putting groups like the Council on American-Islamic Relations in the crosshairs. Read more at WLRN. (Sep. 11)

Trump’s List of U.S.-Designated 'Foreign Terrorist Organizations' in Latin America Grows to 21

PBS News details the 21 groups listed as “foreign terrorist organizations” across Latin America, eight of which are located in Mexico. (Sep. 11)

A Right-Wing Org Quietly Tracked Thousands Of Muslim Americans For Decades

Middle East Forum, a far-right think tank that has repeatedly spread disinformation about Muslims, made public a database that holds thousands of entries about Muslim Americans and Muslim organizations, including names, social media accounts, tax information. Rowaida Abdelaziz reports for HuffPost. (Sep. 11)

Sept. 11-Spawned Surveillance Is Ravaging the Country

Surveilleance following 9/11 initially targeted Muslims and Arabs, but today has expanded to those associated with the movement for Black Lives, student activists organizing against the genocide in Gaza, activists protesting ICE activity, and other progressive causes. Read more from Saqib Bhatti in Chicago Sun-Times. (Sep. 9)

Italian Tech Collective to Shut Down After U.S. Terrorist Designation

Autistici/Inventati (A/I) shut down its services after the U.S. terrorism designation, impacting approximately 16,000 mailboxes, 1,500 websites, 5,500 mailing lists and 10,000 blogs A/I hosted for activists that sought alternatives to commercial platforms. Ana Uras reports for Reuters. (Sep. 7)

FARA Rulemaking Update: DOJ Moves Toward Final Rule

A new FARA rule could “expand the availability of exemptions commonly relied upon by corporations and law firms,” contradicting earlier predictions that the Department of Justice would seek to narrow exemptions. Attorneys at BakerHostetler provide analysis. (Sep. 14)

Kenya Follows Uganda in Tightening Controls on Foreign Agents

Kenya looks to adopt tighter restrictions on foreign agents in a model similar to Uganda, where the law broadly applies to foreign governments, diplomatic missions, companies, NGOs, and international or multinational organisations. Eliud Kibii reports for The Star. (Sep. 13)

Mastercard and World Bank Group Launch $500 Million Global Risk Facility to Expand Financial Access

Mastercard announced a new $500 million global settlement exposure facility in partnership with the World Bank Group to accelerate inclusive economic growth by extending digital payments and financial services to underserved populations. Read the full press release. (Sep. 9)

Civil Society Donors Should Heed the Risks of FATF Grey List-Induced Panic

Rather than promote healthy financial regulatory reform, FATF’s designation more often results in overreactions and misinterpreting standards, leading to tighter restrictions and financial exclusions for greater swathes of society. James Savage writes for Just Security. (Sep. 2)

Shadow Report Raises Civil Society Concerns Ahead of Sri Lanka's FATF Mutual Evaluation

The Sri Lanka CSO FATF Network has submitted a shadow report to the Asia Pacific Group and the FATF ahead of the latter’s evaluation of Sri Lanka’s financial regulatory policies, raising concerns that AML/CFT measures are being used to impose disproportionate restrictions on nonprofits and civic space. Read more at the Global NPO Coalition on FATF. (Aug. 7)

Trump Is Using the IRS and Nonprofit Status to Chill Affirmative Action

The Trump administration has proposed regulations that would strip private schools of their tax-exempt status if they consider race for admissions, such as affirmative action in education benefiting Black and other racial minority students. James D. Zirin opines at The Hill. (Sep. 8)

'Tomorrow, It Could Be Any of Us': Dems Probe Trump Plan to Aim IRS at Left-Leaning Nonprofits

Ranking Democrats in the Senate Finance Committee launched an inquiry into the Trump Administration’s use of the IRS to “target ideological opponents, including taking away their tax-exempt status.” Jake Johnson reports for Common Dreams. (Sep. 3)

• Democrats in the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight also called on IRS CEO Frank Bisignano to answer questions about the Trump Administration’s influence on the agency to target nonprofits. (Sep. 1)
• Read C&SN’s analysis on the Trump Administration’s clear intention to weaponize the IRS against progressive nonprofits.

Trump Weaponizes the IRS Against Liberal Nonprofits

“The president lacks the power to direct the IRS to target a particular nonprofit, much less to pull its tax exemption himself,” Robert Kuttner responds to reports that the Trump Administration could soon attempt to revoke the tax-exempt status of prominent nonprofits, including Open Society Foundations and Southern Poverty Law Center. Read more at The American Prospect. (Aug. 31)

Mahmoud Khalil Sues Columbia University over Years of Alleged anti-Palestinian Discrimination

Khalil and members of the SIPA’s Palestine Working Group have accused the university, its board, and the dean of the school, Keren Yarhi-Milo, of “deliberate indifference” and failure to respond to “severe, persistent and coordinated harassment” directed towards students who had been outspoken about Palestinian rights. Alice Speri reports for The Guardian. (Sep. 14)

Afghan Woman Deported in First-Ever "Alien Terrorist" Court Case, DOJ Says

The Department of Justice deported Nazira Haji Zada, a lawful permanent resident who the government accused of assisting family members in a foiled 2024 shooting plot. This is the first-ever case using the Alien Terrorist Removal Court, which gives the government broad powers to remove people it links to terrorism while keeping much of its evidence secret. Averty Lotz reports for Axios. (Sep. 11)

Lawsuit Challenges Intimidation of DHS Observers Across the Country

A federal lawsuit filed by ICE observers and the nonprofit Common Cause accused the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, the FBI and other federal agencies of violating the First Amendment and privacy rights when they attempted to intimidate observers away from recording ICE activity. Jude Joffe-Block reports for NPR. (Sep. 10)

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