GW Law Professor Honored with NAACP Archewell Digital Civil Rights Award

Mary Anne Franks, the Eugene L. and Barbara A. Bernard Professor in Intellectual Property, Technology, and Civil Rights Law, received the 2026 NAACP Archewell Digital Civil Rights Award at the 57th annual NAACP Image Awards on Feb. 28.

Franks, a nationally recognized legal scholar and president of the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative, has led efforts to combat online abuse and gender-based harassment through policy and advocacy. She is the author of "Fearless Speech: Breaking Free from the First Amendment" and has been widely recognized for her work examining how technology can both protect and threaten fundamental rights.

The award, presented in partnership with Archewell Philanthropies, honors individuals who are advancing civil and human rights in the digital sphere and addressing issues such as online harassment, disinformation and inequity.

Archewell Philanthropies is home to the charitable work of Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who made a short congratulatory video. In the video, Prince Harry said he finds Franks's groundbreaking work "genuinely inspiring," adding that her book, "Fearless Speech" asks the important question, "When powerful people and powerful platforms claim to champion free speech, whose freedom are they actually protecting? Dr. Franks makes the case and I think she's right that true free speech should serve democracy, not the interests of those who would dismantle it."

Meghan called Franks "a fearless woman at the forefront of the modern civil rights movement."