Digital Rights Weekly | November 8 - 12
Team CommUNITY
team at digitalrights.community
Fri Nov 12 20:04:36 CET 2021
Hello Digital Rights Defenders!
Here is your weekly update on digital rights around the world for the week
of November 8 - 12.
### Upcoming Virtual TCU Events ###
Nov 16 | Dealing with Distress in the Digital Rights Community: What can
you do as a community leader?
Nov 18 | Embodied Connection
Nov 23 | Dealing with Conflicts in Activist Groups and Teams
https://www.digitalrights.community/blog/2021-community-health-village
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### Digital Rights in the Community ###
*** Community News and Announcements ***
1. Frontline Defenders Investigation: Israeli Spyware Found on the Phone of
Six Palestinian Human Rights Defenders
On 16 October 2021, Front Line Defenders was contacted by-Al Haq, a human
rights organisation in Palestine, about the device of a Jerusalem-based
staff member and a possible infection with spyware. Front Line Defenders
immediately conducted a technical investigation, and found that the device
had been infected in July 2020, with spyware sold by Israel-based NSO Group
https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/statement-report/statement-targeting-palestinian-hrds-pegasus
Check out this 15 minute podcast by Mohammed Al-Maskati were he covers the
unfolding of the hack, who NSO Group is , how the Pegasus spyware works,
how the devices were found to be infected, and more, in this 15 minute
podcast:
https://soundcloud.com/front-line-defenders/nso-groups-pegasus-spyware-hack-on-palestinan-hrds-explained-by-dpc-mohammad-al-maskati
Amnesty also has a podcast on this topic called Unknown Number
https://open.spotify.com/episode/53zYIYxQc48Aslr7IYVpsF?si=ygXhmxyaS9SVNEPlV4WIFw&nd=1
2. Surveillance Company Not Immune from International Lawsuit, Rules USA
Ninth Circuit:
Almost a year after EFF attorneys filed a brief with the Ninth Circuit in
support of WhatsApp’s lawsuit against the notorious Israeli spyware company
NSO Group, the court issued a ruling that the company is not immune from
the lawsuit alleging NSO helped its client governments target members of
civil society, including Rwandan political dissidents and a journalist
critical of Saudi Arabia.
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/11/ninth-circuit-surveillance-company-not-immune-international-lawsuit
3. Report: Persecution Of Online Expression In The Gulf And Neighbouring
Countries"
Check out this new report by the Gulf Center for Human Rights and Berkeley
Law, covering 225 incidents across 10 MENA countries. It offers evidence
that governments in the region are systematically persecuting human rights
defenders in Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi
Arabia, Syria, and the United Arab Emirates. The persecution is done via
laws and specialized law enforcement institutions to criminalize online
expression in violation of international law.
https://www.gc4hr.org/report/view/151
4. Data Scientists Aim to Detect Internet Censorship in Real Time
A new multi-institutional study led by University of Chicago Prof. Nick
Feamster will build new AI and data science tools to monitor and detect
internet censorship, develop new statistical techniques to identify
censorship with greater levels of confidence, and ultimately create a map
for certain types of nation-state interference and control of online
information.
https://news.uchicago.edu/story/data-scientists-aim-detect-internet-censorship-real-time
5. The Uncensored Fashion Collection
DW has partnered with Berlin-based designer Marco Scaiano to introduce the
"Uncensored Collection," a campaign that uses everyday garments to draw
attention to continued assaults on internet freedom by autocratic regimes.
https://www.dw.com/en/fighting-internet-censorship-with-fashion/g-59725910
6. When Digital Rights and Cybercrime Collide
An upcoming trial in Ecuador should put technologists working in the public
interest on high alert. Ola Bini, a Swedish programmer, internet activist,
and human rights defender will be in a Quito court accused of trying to
destabilize the government by gaining access to an information system
without authorization. His trial may have profound implications for the
development and use of secure digital communications, which people rely on
around the world to exercise their human rights.
https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/11/10/when-digital-rights-and-cybercrime-collide
### Learning Resources ###
1. The Egyptian Revolution is still Alive!
Alaa Abd el-Fattah is one of the most famous of Egypt’s 60,000 political
prisoners. His latest book, You Have Not Yet Been Defeated, he defends the
legacy of the revolution against its detractors and bears witness to his
government’s continued use of violence to suppress opposition.
https://www.jacobinmag.com/2021/10/egypt-revolution-alaa-al-sisi-protest-dissent-imprisonment
2. Why Online Anonymity Matters
Many researchers, activists, writers and marginalized persons need methods
of anonymity, pseudonyms, or online personas to protect their work and
themselves. Communities throughout the world facing acute forms of
censorship and surveillance have developed norms to keep themselves safe,
evolved to protect their members from people in governments, law
enforcement, or corporations, who abuse their power. Yet, current
discussions on tech and ethics could imperil survival for these groups.
https://www.belfercenter.org/publication/why-online-anonymity-matters
3. How to Support LIbraries in Times of Increased Censorship
Libraries are under attack in many cities throughout the USA. In Wyoming,
for example, librarians are facing criminal charges for stocking
informative books about sexuality and sexual health. While In Florida and
Pennsylvania, librarians are being forced to pull books with antiracist
themes from the shelves. Here is a good review of what you can do to
support libraries.
https://bookriot.com/support-libraries-against-censorship/
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### Digital Rights in the Wider World ###
1.Israel Escalates Surveillance of Palestinians with Facial Recognition
Program in West Bank
The facial recognition program in the West used to monitor Palestinians is
so extensive that one former soldier described it as the Israeli army’s
secret “Facebook for Palestinians.”It utilises a smartphone technology
called Blue Wolf that has been in operation for the past two years.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israel-palestinians-facial-recognition-blue-wolf-b1953856.html
2. Sudan Court Orders end to Internet Shutdown
A Sudanese court has ordered the country’s main telecoms companies to
restore internet access more than two weeks after it was cut following a
coup by military leaders. The Sudanese military, led by General Abdel
Fattah al-Burhan, seized power on October 25, dissolving the transitional
administration and arresting dozens of government officials and politicians.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/11/9/calls-for-strike-and-civil-disobedience-in-sud
3. Indonesian Court Allows Internet Blocking Amid Social Unrest
On October 27, Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled that it is
constitutionally acceptable for the Indonesian government to block and
throttle the internet in times of social strife. The ruling ended a more
than two-year-long dispute over the government's decision to block internet
access on the island of Papua amid protests and demonstrations. The
decision is part of a larger pattern of Indonesia's diminishing speech
rights in recent years.
https://globalvoices.org/2021/11/09/indonesian-court-allows-internet-blocking-amid-social-unrest/
4. Activists Received Hacked Police Aerial Surveillance Footage
An activist group posted over 600 hours of police aerial surveillance
footage received from an anonymous hacker that claims to target unsecured
law enforcement data. The group, Distributed Denial of Secrets, told The
Dallas Morning News that the hacked footage included video from the Dallas
police and the Georgia State Patrol.
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/581039-activists-say-they-received-hacked-police-aerial-surveillance-footage
5. Hyderabad, India ‘On the brink’ of Becoming a t+Total Surveillance
c+City’
The Indian government is planning to conduct extensive surveillance of
people in Hyderabad, India without their knowledge or their consent.,
Amnesty International is bringing attention to this through their ongoing
#BanTheScan campaign to ban intrusive facial recognition technology.
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2021/11/india-hyderabad-on-the-brink-of-becoming-a-total-surveillance-city/
6. Spike in Employee Surveillance is Driving Workers Away
A new report from VMware has found the majority of businesses are looking
to install some form of employee surveillance to monitor home workers - who
in turn, are walking out the door in protest.
https://www.techradar.com/news/spike-in-employee-surveillance-is-driving-workers-away
Currently, employers in the US have carte blanche in terms of what they can
do regarding surveillance and worker monitoring. Check out the law review
article, Limitless Worker Surveillance, authored by Ifeoma Ajunwa, Kate
Crawford, and Jason Schultz, where this issue is explored in depth.
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2746211
7. US Supreme Court to Hear Arguments on FBI's Surveillance of Mosques
This past week the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in a case involving
an FBI undercover operation at a mosque in California. The year-long
surveillance program yielded no results and proved a huge embarrassment to
the bureau.
https://www.npr.org/2021/11/08/1052567444/supreme-court-to-hear-arguments-on-fbis-surveillance-of-mosques
8. Pandemic Surveillance and Racial Bias
Surveillance technology employed during the pandemic has disproportionately
targeted people of color, leading to a normalization of both racial
discrimination and inequality. One promising development in the USA to
address this is the Public Health Emergency Privacy Act under review by
Congress. It would require opt-in consent, data minimizations, limits on
disclosure to government actors, restrictions on commercialization, and
establishing a private right of action.
https://thecrimereport.org/2021/11/09/pandemic-surveillance-and-racial-bias/
9. How Cyber Surveillance is Booming on a Global Scale
New data paints a detailed picture of the ways Western companies are
selling cyber weapons and surveillance technology for massive profit.
https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/11/08/1039395/grim-outlook-cyber-boom-atlantic-council-report/
### Call for Proposals ###
1. Global Information Society Watch (GISWatch) 2021-2022 Report
Call for proposals
Theme: COVID-19: Changes to digital rights priorities and strategies
Deadline for proposals: 22 November 2021
https://www.apc.org/en/news/giswatch-2021-2022-call-proposals-covid-19-changes-digital-rights-priorities-and-strategies
2. European Digital Rights (EDRi): #PrivacyCamp22: Call for panels! (New
deadline)
The 10th edition of Privacy Camp invites a forward-looking retrospective on
the last decade of digital rights. This edition aims at building on the
lessons of the past and at collectively articulating strategic ways forward
for the advancement of human rights in the digital society.
https://privacycamp.eu/2021/10/20/privacycamp22-call-for-panels/
3. OTF Learning Lab RFP
The Open Tech Fund is issuing a request for proposal for their Learning
Lab. They are looking for professionals or agencies with writing, editing,
or visual/graphic design skills. Proposals are due by November 24, 2021.
The Learning Lab helps OTF-supported projects and their fellows tell the
stories of their projects and the results they produce, including their
successes, challenges and lessons learned.
https://www.opentech.fund/about/jobs/rfp-for-writing-editing-and-design-services-learning-lab/
.
4 Doria Feminist Fund (New deadline)
The fund has extended their call to proposal till November 19th. The Fund
seeks to create a feminist ecosystem where the new generation of feminist
movement in the MENA region has access to more and better funding and
resources.
https://www.doriafeministfund.org/
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### Grants, Fellowships, & Awards ###
The following opportunities are open to individual digital rights defenders
and to organizations. If you would like us to include a grant, fellowship
or award, please email details to team at digitalrights.community
https://internetfreedomfestival.org/wiki/index.php/Fundraising_Opportunities
Grant opportunity
Digital Freedom Fund
Deadline: 24 January - 1 March 2022
https://digitalfreedomfund.org/grants/
Internet Freedom Fund
Open Technology Fund
Deadline: Rolling Basis
https://www.opentech.fund/funds/internet-freedom-fund/
Rapid Response Fund
Open Tech Fund
Deadline: Rolling Basis
https://www.opentech.fund/funds/rapid-response-fund/
Rapid Response Fund
Derechos Digitales
Deadline: Rolling Basis
https://www.derechosdigitales.org/sobre-el-fondo-de-respuesta-rapida/
Urgent Action Fund for Women's Human Rights
Deadline: Rolling Basis
https://urgentactionfund.org/
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
### Global Events Calendar ###
Virtual School of Internet Governance
September 6, 2021 - November 14, 2021
https://www.virtualsig.org/2021/01/17/group-e-registration-sept-6-2021/
Escuela Virtual de Gobernanza de Internet
13 de septiembre, 2021 - 3 de diciembre, 2021
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd4TZUhNmlb6FpJ4FpggeYGIxw3kiDrXMCeNjeUeI_kiHQjew/viewform
APAC DNS Forum 2022 First Pre-Event Webinar
September 2021 - February 2022
https://apacdnsforum.my/
Community Health Village
November 2021
Online Event, See list of workshops and sessions below:
https://www.digitalrights.community/blog/2021-community-health-village
Nov 16: Dealing with Distress in the Digital Rights Community: What can you
do as a community leader?
Nov 18: Embodied Connection
Nov 23: Dealing with Conflicts in Activist Groups and Teams
Dec 2: Care is Resistance: From Being Detained as a "Terrorist" to the
Coping-with-prison-guide
Bread & Net 2021
23 - 26 November, 2021
Online & Offline Event
https://www.breadandnet.org/
Internet Governance Forum 2021
6-10 December, 2021
Katowice, Poland
https://www.intgovforum.org/multilingual/content/igf-2021
Glitter Meetup
Every Thursday
9am EDT | 1pm UTC | 10pm UTC+8
Mattermost - IFF Square Channel
https://internetfreedomfestival.org/wiki/index.php/Glitter_Meetup
Check out a list of our virtual events here:
https://internetfreedomfestival.org/wiki/index.php/Calendar_of_Events
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### NEW Job Opportunities ###
Below is a short-list of jobs we have been sent in the last week.
You can view the complete list of jobs on the Team CommUNITY Job Board at:
https://www.digitalrights.community/job-board
If you know someone who may be a fit for any one of these jobs, please
forward them this email. Or better yet, have them sign up to receive more
jobs each week:
https://www.digitalrights.community/weekly-newsletter
✎ Senior Development Officer | Urgent Action Fund for Women’s Human Rights
+ Remote
https://urgentactionfund.org/wp-content/uploads/dlm_uploads/2021/11/2021-Senior-Development-Officer_Final.pdf
✎ Senior Communications Officer | Urgent Action Fund for Women’s Human
Rights
+ Remote
https://urgentactionfund.org/wp-content/uploads/dlm_uploads/2021/11/2021-Senior-Communication-Officer_Final.pdf
✎ Development Manager | Global Network Initiative
+ Remote and Washington, DC, USA
http://globalnetworkinitiative.org/gni-job-opportunity-development-manager/
✎ Project Coordinator | Justice and Sustainability Associates, LLC
+ Washington, DC, USA
https://www.indeed.com/viewjob?t=project+coordinator&jk=708c6fa7baf2934b&_ga=2.48442470.119938799.1636557594-25205275.1632146570&_gac=1.120003706.1634585877.Cj0KCQjwtrSLBhCLARIsACh6Rmj0OoNlunmEdTe-n1FoJ_ijPhknsjOxtDQs-pu7PlQCb9GPun8W07UaAtoJEALw_wcB
✎ Senior Software Engineer - Web Team | Wikimedia Foundation
+ Remote
https://boards.greenhouse.io/wikimedia/jobs/3646130?gh_src=ffa509aa1us
✎ Software Engineer in Test | Wikimedia Foundation
+ Remote
https://boards.greenhouse.io/wikimedia/jobs/3641656?gh_src=46ccf7591us
✎ Cybersecurity Administrator | The Center for Victims of Torture
+ Remote, USA
http://cvt.simplicant.com/jobs/41678-cybersecurity-administrator/detail
✎ Consultant – Events and Network Coordination – Immigration, Data and
Technology | Open Rights Group (ORG)
+ Remote, United Kingdom, EEA
https://www.openrightsgroup.org/consultant-events-and-network-coordination-immigration-data-and-technology/
✎ Freelance Policy Consultant (Freedom of Expression) | Open Rights Group
(ORG)
+ Remote, United Kingdom, EEA
https://www.openrightsgroup.org/freelance-policy-consultant-freedom-of-expression/
✎ Head of Policy and Litigation | Open Rights Group (ORG)
+ Remote, United Kingdom, EEA
https://www.openrightsgroup.org/head-of-policy-and-litigation/
✎ Systems Administrator (Location Options) | Access Now
+ Location Options
https://accessnow.bamboohr.com/jobs/view.php?id=90&source=aWQ9MjA%3D
✎ Software Engineer (Contractor) | Wikimedia Foundation
+ Remote
https://boards.greenhouse.io/wikimedia/jobs/3639368?gh_src=f5cd43751us
✎ Python/Django Developer (Contract) | The Sentinel Project
+ Remote
https://thesentinelproject.org/job_openings/python-django-developer-contract/
✎ Media Technologist - Technology, Threats & Opportunities Program | WITNESS
+ Remote
https://www.witness.org/media-technologist-technology-threats-and-opportunities-program/
✎ Senior Program Manager - Technology, Threats & Opportunities Program |
WITNESS
+ Remote
https://www.witness.org/senior-program-manager-technology-threats-and-opportunity-program/
✎ Ethics & Tech: Researcher & Project Manager | Eticas Consulting, S.L.
+ Remote
https://adventures.freshpeople.team/jobs/1154033-ethics-tech-researcher-eu-project-manager
✎ Southeast Asia network coordinator | Association for Progressive
Communications
+ Remote
https://www.apc.org/en/node/37733/
✎ Lead Program Manager, Global Advocacy | Wikimedia Foundation
+ Remote
https://boards.greenhouse.io/wikimedia/jobs/3636842?gh_src=842c4ec91us
✎ Brand Designer | The Tor Project
+ Remote
http://www.torproject.org/about/jobs/brand-designer/
✎ Senior Manager, People Operations | Wikimedia Foundation
+ Remote
https://boards.greenhouse.io/wikimedia/jobs/3629792?gh_src=2f3fbf5c1us
✎ Senior Project Manager, Communications | Wikimedia Foundation
+ Remote
https://boards.greenhouse.io/wikimedia/jobs/3631527?gh_src=0b94c85b1us
✎ Senior Counsel / Counsel, Technology Policy | Common Sense Media
+ Washington D.C., USA
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/about-us/senior-counsel-counsel-technology-policy
✎ Brand Designer | Team CommUNITY
+ Remote
https://www.digitalrights.community/blog/seeking-brand-designer
✎ VPN Community Lead | Team CommUNITY
+ Remote
https://www.digitalrights.community/blog/seeking-vpn-lead
✎ Psychosocial Support Consultant | Team CommUNITY
+ Remote
https://www.digitalrights.community/blog/psychosocial-consultant
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(((Hugs & light)))
Team CommUNITY at ARTICLE 19
team at digitalrights.community
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