Wafa Ben-Hassine

Wafa Ben-Hassine is an international technology and human rights lawyer with a career focused on the intersection of emerging technologies, policy, and human rights. Ben-Hassine serves as the United Nations Human Rights Office's first chief of digital technology and human rights, leading the office's work on artificial intelligence governance and emerging technology. In this role, she advocates for ethical frameworks, transparency, online privacy, and child safety in the context of rapid algorithmic development. Ben-Hassine was recognized in the 'Shapers' category of the TIME100 AI list for her contributions to AI policy and governance.

Ben-Hassine's experience spans international institutions and civil society organizations. She previously served as director of programs and policy at Omidyar Network, where she led initiatives on encrypted messaging, online safety, and AI governance, and co-created Humanity AI, a coalition supporting civil society's role in shaping artificial intelligence. Her prior roles include positions at the International Finance Corporation, the Hague Institute for Innovation of Law, and Access Now, where she was Middle East and North Africa policy manager and global policy counsel. Ben-Hassine also completed an Open Technology Fund fellowship at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, researching counter-terrorism and cybercrime laws in Arab countries and their impact on human rights.

Her international human rights work includes serving as Tunisia's first legislative aide in the national Constituent Assembly, contributing to the constitutional integration of human rights. Ben-Hassine co-founded the OpenGovTN initiative in Tunisia, promoting government transparency, and Legal Education Advancement and Development Tunisia, a nonprofit focused on improving graduate legal education. Earlier in her career, she interned at the Appeals Chamber of the Special Tribunal of Lebanon in The Hague and at the U.S. Department of State Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor.

Ben-Hassine has held leadership roles in global technology governance, including co-chairing the World Economic Forum's Global Future Council on Human Rights and the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and serving on the Global Future Council on Data Policy. She is a member of the Partnership on Artificial Intelligence's Safety-Critical AI Steering Committee, a licensed attorney in New York, a member of the World Economic Forum's Global Future Council on Information Integrity, and an advisory board member of Library Futures. Her writing on technology policy, AI governance, and digital human rights has appeared in CNN, WIRED Magazine, and the Atlantic Council, and she is frequently interviewed by media outlets such as The Economist, BBC News, Vox, Reuters, France 24, NPR, and Public Radio International.

Ben-Hassine is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She holds a JD from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law and a BA in political science from the University of California, San Diego. Her career centers on ensuring that the advancement of artificial intelligence and digital technologies aligns with the protection of fundamental human rights.