"The United Nations is a massive club for dictators," says Thor Halvorssen, the founder and CEO of the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), a nonprofit founded in 2005. "The rich, powerful, and corrupt get together in Davos. Well, some of the world's bravest people get together at the Oslo Freedom Forum."On October 3, 2022, the HRF convened the Oslo Freedom Forum, a one-day conference at Manhattan's Town Hall, bringing together political activists from around the world to call attention to rising authoritarianism in China, Iran, Russia, Venezuela, and other countries.There were no wonkish policy panels or PowerPoint slides cluttered with data and footnotes. The conference featured instead a series of TED Talk–style speeches, delivered without notes and designed to forge an emotional connection between the audience and the presenters.
