Digital Rights Weekly | April 25 - 29

Sat Apr 30 18:59:29 CEST 2022

Hello Digital Rights Defenders!

Here is your weekly update on digital rights around the world for the
weeks of April 25 - 29. As a reminder,  you can submit your news for
the newsletter here:
https://www.digitalrights.community/weekly-newsletter

## Team CommUNITY Update ##

1. Digital Rights Job Fair on June 16! Join Us!

We are hosting the first ever Digital Rights Job Fair! The event is
designed to help individuals meet leading organizations in the field,
while bringing in new talent! Whether you are a seasoned professional
or just starting your career, this is a great opportunity to expand
your network!

Currently, participating organizations include: Tor, Social Science
Research Council, PEN America, Calyx Institute, GreatFire.org,
Globaleaks, SMEX, The Engine Room, Horizontal, OpenArchive, and the
Open Tech Fund. More organizations will be added in coming weeks.

Make sure to RSVP here soon:

https://digitalrights.formstack.com/forms/jobfair

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###  Upcoming Virtual TCU Events ###

May 11 | LATAM Monthly Meetup
Los meetups mensuales Latinoamericanos son un espacio para charlar,
compartir proyectos, soltar un poco de estrés, contar buenas noticias
y ayudarnos entre todes a solucionar lo que podamos en las no tan
buenas.
https://internetfreedomfestival.org/wiki/index.php/11_de_Mayo,_2022_LATAM
_________________________________________________

### Digital Rights in the Community ###

1. Call for Papers | 4th Multidisciplinary International Symposium on
Disinformation in Open Online Media
The Multidisciplinary International Symposium on Disinformation in
Open Online Media (MISDOOM) will be hosted by Boise State University
on October 11-12, 2022. Depending on the pandemic status, the
conference may move online. The symposium seeks full research papers
and extended abstracts from multiple disciplines, including
communication science, computer science, computational social science,
political science, psychology, journalism, and media studies.
Submissions from industry and practitioners in journalism and online
media are also welcome. Submission Deadline: May 14, 2022
For complete paper submission instructions, see
https://www.boisestate.edu/misdoom-2022/

2. Call for Proposals | Color of Surveillance Conference: Europe edition
EDRi, alongside Controle Alt Delete and Bits of Freedom, will host the
Colour of Surveillance Conference on the 15th and 16th September 2022,
in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. This conference will draw attention to
the racialised nature of surveillance in this region as well as foster
connections between racial justice and digital rights groups. This
will be the first time such a convening takes place in Europe. They
are looking for workshop proposals for the conference. Please find
full details of the conference's themes in the call for proposals, as
well as a separate form to express interest in attending as a
participant.
https://edri.org/take-action/events/call-for-proposals-colour-of-surveillance-europe-conference-15-16-september-2022/

3. Accessibility Services Through the Accessibility Lab

Accessibility Lab, is offering services through the SUA Lab and A11y
Lab projects. The services include accessibility training, websites &
apps accessibility audits, accessible software development, and
digital documents remediation. If there are any open source projects
about security or privacy, they can also give you accessibility
feedback. Accessibility Lab is a Mexican organization seeking to
ensure the inclusion of people with disabilities and their integral
development, through accessibility in the digital world. All services
are funded by the Open Technology Fund.

If you’re interested, check the relevant websites https://a11ylab.com
and https://www.opentech.fund/labs/sua-lab/
To apply contact Nancy Reyes: nancy.rf at gmail.com

4. New Ranking Digital Rights Report | Big Tech Score Card

Each year, Ranking Digital Rights evaluates and ranks 14 of the
world’s most powerful digital platforms on their policies and
practices affecting people’s rights to freedom of expression and
privacy. For the sixth consecutive year, not one digital platform
earned a passing grade in their ranking. While there has been some
incremental progress overall, this is no time for business as usual.
Companies must improve their governance and accelerate their adoption
of human rights standards to protect their users and the public
interest.

Which companies commit to human rights? Who does the best job
describing how they moderate content? Where is your data safest in
case of a breach? How has Apple’s scores changed over time? Drill down
into the report’s data points!

https://rankingdigitalrights.org/rankings-report-cards/

5. Digital Rights Foundation Helpline Receives 4,441 Complaints in 2021

Founded in December 2016, Digital Rights Foundation’s (DRF) helpline
0300-39393 received thousands of complaints violating digital rights.
In 2021 alone, DRF received 4,441 complaints on the helpline and the
most frequent cases are blackmailing related. Another frequent issue
is hack related, where callers reach out for support with their hacked
Instagram, Facebook, and Gmail accounts. The helpline supports callers
with legal aid, basic counseling services, digital assistance and
security assistance.

https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/952849-digital-rights-body-receives-4-441-blackmailing-complaints

5. Gulf Centre for Human Rights: New Cybercrime Law in Syria Represses
Online Freedom of Expression

The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) says Law No. 20 of 2022
ratified by the Syria government  on 18 April 2022 violates the right
to freedom of expression and threatens digital rights and online
privacy. The law contains several vaguely-defined articles. The
legislation consists of 50 articles that include toughening penalties
for publishing content online which the government finds
objectionable, including prison sentence ranging from one month to a
year and/or a fine for anyone who publishes digital content on the
Internet with the intention of “overthrowing or changing the regime in
the country”, or “undermining the prestige of the state and
compromising national unity.”

For an in-depth review on this law, read the extended statement the
GCHR has written: https://www.gc4hr.org/news/view/2994

6. Journalist Orgs Ask Greek Government for Information Regarding the
Use of Spyware Against Greek Financial Journalist

The International Press Institute (IPI) and other press freedom and
journalists’ organizations wrote to Greek government and EU officials
last week regarding the surveillance case against CNN Greece financial
journalist, Thanasis Koukakis. The organizations urged the Greek
government to provide more information about this case, including the
Predator spyware technology used to target Koukakis. They also urged
Greece to take immediate steps to better regulate spyware technology
to avoid such incidents. Read the full statement:

https://ipi.media/greece-letter-to-government-after-spyware-surveillance-of-journalist-thanasis-koukakis/

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### Digital Rights Resources ###

1. DRI | Monitoring Social Media Toolkit in Arabic

Democracy Reporting International (DRI) launched the Arabic version of
the Toolkit To Monitor Social Media. The Digital Democracy Monitor
Toolkit helps civil society, journalists, researchers and anyone
trying to research social media and democracy. You can use this
toolkit to get started with your own monitoring:

https://digitalmonitor.democracy-reporting.org/ARA/

2. Wirecutter | Resources for Online Security in Steps

Although the task of online security can seem overwhelming, this page
outlines a series of steps that could drastically reduce your risks
online and advice for handling special circumstances that require
particular attention. More will be added to this page over the next
few weeks: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/guides/simple-online-security/
(paywall)

3. Shutting Stalkers Out of Your Tech

Individuals may face different modes of abuse in relationships,
including being virtually stalked or spied on. In parallel to work on
systemic mechanisms to hold the culprits accountable, there are
measures that victims can take to increase their safety and distance
from the potential harm. This article lists ways to do so, including
listing your online accounts and changing their password, setting up
multi-factor authentication, and ways to secure devices.

https://www.consumerreports.org/digital-security/shut-stalkers-out-of-your-tech-a6642216357/
____________________________________________

### Digital Rights in the Wider World ###

1. What Twitter Employees are Saying about Elon Musk

What have Twitter employees been saying about Elon Musk purchasing
Twitter? Quite a bit. In the period following the announcement of Elon
Musk purchasing Twitter, employee conversations varied, with a big
number expressing concern, especially about its implications on
employment. Others were open to the potential new ideas he has to
offer. This piece covers some observations and conversation with them:

https://www.theverge.com/23042020/twitter-employees-elon-musk-buyout-slack

2. Facebook Doesn’t Know What It Does With Your Data

According to a leaked internal document, Facebook engineers said they
“do not have an adequate level of control and explainability over how
our systems use data.” In other words, Facebook’s own engineers admit
that they are struggling to keep track of where user data goes once it
is inside Facebook’s systems. The document was written last year by
Facebook privacy engineers on the Ad and Business Product team. This
has technical and political implications on what that means to
regulate an uncontrollable social media platform within users’ rights.
Read the leaked document and its analysis here:

https://www.vice.com/en/article/akvmke/facebook-doesnt-know-what-it-does-with-your-data-or-where-it-goes

3. Digital Apartheid with South Africa’s Private Surveillance Machine

The deployment of AI surveillance presents just one case study in how
a technology that promised to bring societies into the future is
threatening to send them back to the past. Firms are dumping their AI
technologies into the country which is outlining a blueprint for how
to surveil citizens. The fiber is there and that makes the camera
installation easier. In the past 5 years, fiber coverage in
Johannesburg expanded, AI capabilities advanced, and companies saw an
opportunity to dump surveillance technologies into it. The local
security industry But then fiber coverage expanded, AI capabilities
advanced, and companies abroad, seeing an opportunity, began dumping
the latest surveillance technologies into the country. The local
security industry took up the options.

The effect has been the rapid creation of a centralized, coordinated,
entirely privatized mass surveillance operation. Vumacam, the company
building the nationwide CCTV network, already has over 6,600 cameras
and counting, more than 5,000 of which are concentrated in Joburg. The
video footage it takes feeds into security rooms around the country,
which then use all manner of AI tools like license plate recognition
to track population movement and trace individuals. This in-depth
piece outlines the continuity of apartheid through this technology:

https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/04/19/1049996/south-africa-ai-surveillance-digital-apartheid/

4. Digital Protest and Ongoing Restrictions In (and On) China

China’s strict censorship faces resistance from residents. As the
weeks-long lockdown in the city of 25 million prompted widespread food
shortages, delivery failures and fatal healthcare disruptions, the
government has urged residents to harness “positive energy”. Dystopian
banners warn people to “watch your own mouth or face punishment” and
drones admonish apartment dwellers. These tactics have made tensions
grow. Groups on WeChat shared the names and stories of people who
died, either with Covid or because the lockdown delayed their access
to healthcare. They criticized local authorities and China’s continued
commitment to zero-Covid as the world opens up, shared videos of
residents detained, bundled out of their apartments, or treated
roughly by pandemic workers. The state quickly deleted many of these
posts.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/20/china-internet-censors-scramble-as-lockdown-frustration-sparks-creative-wave-of-dissent

Related to China, a different form of selective censorship from the US
also happened in the past week. Google said it shut down John Lee’s
YouTube campaign channel. John Lee is likely to replace Carrie Lam as
Hong Kong chief executive following next month’s election. Alphabet,
Google’s parent company and the owner of YouTube, said in a statement
it took down Lee’s YouTube channel to comply with US sanctions over
the Hong Kong official’s role developing and enforcing the city’s
national security law. Lee’s Facebook page is still up, but parent
company Meta said they shut down the candidate’s access to its payment
services. These moves definitely limit Lee’s ability to disseminate
campaign messages, but may be unlikely to have any real bearing on the
election. The pro-Beijing candidate is the only one running for the
position.

https://qz.com/2157104/youtube-blocked-beijings-pick-for-hong-kong-chief-executive/

5. Residents in Kashmir Concerned Over CCTV Order

The installation of CCTV cameras has been made mandatory for
businesses in the region's capital Srinagar. Locals are expressing
valid security concerns, while also disgruntled that they have to pay
for the cost of the operation: Hear what they have to say about this
new development:

https://www.dw.com/en/kashmir-cctv-order-raises-concerns-over-privacy-and-surveillance/av-61546296

6. Anomaly Six (A6) Monitors Movement of Billions of Phones

Virginia-based Anomaly Six was founded in 2018 by two ex-military
intelligence officers and maintains very little public presence. The
company is one of many that purchases vast reams of location data,
tracking hundreds of millions of people around the world by exploiting
the fact that common smartphone apps are constantly harvesting your
location and relaying it to advertisers, typically without your
knowledge or informed consent, relying on disclosures buried in the
legalese of the sprawling terms of service. Once your location is
beamed to an advertiser, there is currently no law in the United
States prohibiting the further sale and resale of that information to
firms like Anomaly Six, which are free to sell it to their private
sector and governmental clientele.

The Intercept and Tech Inquiry obtained company materials that provide
details of just how powerful Anomaly Six’s globe-spanning surveillance
powers are, capable of providing any paying customer with abilities
previously reserved for spy bureaus and militaries.

https://theintercept.com/2022/04/22/anomaly-six-phone-tracking-zignal-surveillance-cia-nsa/

7. How Democracies Spy on Their Citizens

Although research on the NSO Group reinforced the link of
authoritarian governments purchasing its spyware, evidence indicates
that all types of governments are purchasing this technology. The
recent Citizen Lab investigation showed that more than 60 phones owned
by Catalan politicians, lawyers, and activists in Spain and across
Europe were targeted using NSO’s Pegasus. It is the largest
forensically documented cluster of such attacks and infections on
record.  The results of this investigation are disclosed in this
article for the first time:

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/04/25/how-democracies-spy-on-their-citizens

8. Digital Services Act (DSA) Successfully Passes in EU
The EU political agreement on the Digital Services Act was reached by
co-legislators last week. The DSA includes new rules that will require
Big Tech platforms to assess and manage systemic risks posed by their
services, such as advocacy of hatred and the spread of disinformation.
Big Tech companies will also need to submit to independent yearly
audits, and to give regulators and third-party researchers, including
civil society, access to platform data and insights into their
algorithmic ‘black boxes’ to ensure greater scrutiny and
accountability. This is a significant step for digital rights all over
as it sets a precedent on holding platforms accountable.

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/04/european-union-digital-services-act-agreement-a-watershed-moment-for-internet-regulation/

Based on a recently released report, this legislation came despite Big
Tech’s attempt to weaken EU regulation. The report, which is based on
lobbying documents obtained by civil society groups Corporate Europe
Observatory and Global Witness, highlights how tech giants have ramped
up their spending on regional lobbying since the DMA and DSA were
proposed back in December 2020. The big five collectively spent over
around $30 million on EU lobbying in the last year alone.

https://techcrunch.com/2022/04/22/google-facebook-apple-eu-lobbying-report/?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAGc8_81hh6XLHUelcUOk0PKAmVzlDUwQIXV9HLUzlEXiJoxUEu3l6AfZzkohkOk9aqtcpe4Vl3I0ewgrbOWa5JJO56REtSvh_Jk0tUPhmX_IO7JGxYC7bCQvSORtBMqU7kuWW4QNKHt4zu1o7y-F-7E2ujvq1NwunCj4QNRwEP0_

______________________________________________

### 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 in this newsletter, please email details to
team at digitalrights.community
https://internetfreedomfestival.org/wiki/index.php/Fundraising_Opportunities

Digital Freedom Fund
23 May - 1 July 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/

Open Briefing’s Responsive Assistance
Deadline: Rolling Basis
https://www.openbriefing.org/support/referral/

Polis London School of Economics
Deadline: Rolling basis and closes April 28
https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/polis/2022/04/07/journalismai-2022/

_________________________________________________

### Global Events Calendar ###

Charting the Future of Big Tech | New America
May 4 2022
https://events.newamerica.org/chartingthefutureofbigtech?gz=c56274bc574984f7f8c3a7212278138f&guest-access-hash=NDU4Mzg2MzMzfDUxNTk1NDUxOXwxNjUwNDY1MDE0OzgxODQ4NjI4MzEyN2M3OWRjZTQ4ZWY2N2MyMTBhYjgxZDg4Y2Y4YThjNmFmYjg3MWJjZDAyNjQwYzNlMDNlNDM=

Government Responses to Online Disinformation Across Sub-Saharan
Africa: A New Tool for Human Rights Defenders
May 10
12pm - 1:15pm BST / 11am - 12.15pm GMT
Online
https://www.gp-digital.org/event/government-responses-to-online-disinformation-across-sub-saharan-africa-a-new-tool-for-human-rights-defenders/

LATAM Monthly Meetup
May 11
6:30pm EDT / 10:30pm UTC
https://internetfreedomfestival.org/wiki/index.php/11_de_Mayo,_2022_LATAM

Palestine Digital Activism Forum
May 17-19
https://pdaf.ps/pdaf2022

The Wikimedia Hackathon 2022
May 20-22
https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Hackathon_2022

Virtual School of Internet Governance - French Version
May 2022
Online
http://www.virtualsig.org/

Check out a list of our virtual events here:
https://internetfreedomfestival.org/wiki/index.php/Calendar_of_Events
_________________________________________________

### NEW Job Opportunities  ###

Below is a short list of jobs we have been sent in the last week.

Want to see more jobs? OR Have a job opening you want us to promote?
Check out the Team CommUNITY Job Board:
https://www.digitalrights.community/job-board

✎ Senior Associate, Data Protection | AWO
+ Remote within UK, Belgium, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy or
Netherlands, hybrid working options
https://app.beapplied.com/apply/ieb4jl9hr5?utm_source=[digitalrights]

✎ Decentralized Storage and Privacy Researcher | OpenArchive
+ Remote
https://open-archive.org/RJob

✎ Content Producer | Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression
+ Not Specified
https://afteegypt.org/jobs/2022/04/20/30200-afteegypt.html

✎ EU Advocacy Officer | 7amleh - The Arab Center for the Advancement
of Social Media
+ Remote in EU
https://7amleh.org/2022/04/20/job-opportunity-eu-advocacy-officer

✎ Senior Policy Manager | Color Of Change
+ Washington, DC, New York, NY or Oakland, CA, USA
https://colorofchange.hire.trakstar.com/jobs/fk02mq5?source=Digital%20Rights

✎ Communications and Storytelling Lead | New Media Advocacy Project
+ Remote
https://nmap.co/commsandstorytellinglead/

✎ Organizing Team Manager | The Center for Third World Organizing
+ Remote
https://the-center-for-third-world-organizing.breezy.hr/p/df08650df810-organizing-team-manager

✎ Communications Coordinator | The Center for Third World Organizing
+ Remote
https://the-center-for-third-world-organizing.breezy.hr/p/092645eec01b-communications-coordinator

✎ South American Editor/Editor de Suramérica | The Organized Crime and
Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP)
+ Colombia y considerando remoto en LATAM
https://www.occrp.org/en

✎ Advocacy & Campaign Manager | Transform Health
+ Remote
https://transformhealthcoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Transform-Health-JD-Advocacy-Campaign-Manager.pdf

✎ Software Engineer III (Anti-Harassment Tools Team) | Wikimedia Foundation
+ Remote
https://grnh.se/700863ee1us

✎ Technology Manager | Center for Constitutional Rights
+ Semi-remote and NYC, NY, USA
https://ccrjustice.org/home/get-involved/jobs/technology-manager

✎ Newsroom Support Engineer | Freedom of the Press Foundation
+ Remote (USA preferred)
https://grnh.se/d67e4bbf5us

✎ London, UK | Amnesty Tech
+ Remote
https://careers.amnesty.org/vacancy/senior-investigative-data-scientist--3282/3310/description/

✎ Senior Director of External Communications (Marketing
Communications) | Wikimedia Foundation
+ Remote
https://grnh.se/c2a110571us

✎  Policy Officer | European Coalition for Corporate Justice
+ Brussels/Remote
https://corporatejustice.org/job/policy-officer/

✎  Senior Researcher | Miaan Group
+ Remote
https://www.idealist.org/en/nonprofit-job/b9f3e795f1d84d08bba202a4482633ab-senior-researcher-miaan-group-austin

✎  Digital Rights Policy Analyst | Miaan Group
+ Remote
https://www.idealist.org/en/nonprofit-job/175264c9e00b4509837205612eb6de5a-digital-rights-policy-analyst-miaan-group-washington

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_________________________________________________

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(((Hugs & light)))

--
Team CommUNITY at ARTICLE 19
www.digitalrights.community
Organizers of the Internet Freedom Festival
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