Digital Rights Weekly | July 4 - 8

Mon Jul 11 15:35:31 CEST 2022

Hello Digital Rights Defenders!

Here is your weekly update on digital rights around the world for the
weeks of July 4 - 8. As a reminder, you can submit your news for the
newsletter here: https://www.digitalrights.community/weekly-newsletter

###  Upcoming Virtual TCU Events ###

July 14 | Glitter Meetup: Surveillance in the Anthropocene
https://internetfreedomfestival.org/wiki/index.php/July_14_2022_GM

July 20 | Latin America Meetup
https://internetfreedomfestival.org/wiki/index.php/20_de_Julio,_2022_LATAM

## Team CommUNITY Update ##

1. June Edition of the Regional Briefs are Out!

The June edition of the Regional briefs are out, created by TCU’s
amazing community leads!
Each dispatch contains information on current
opportunities, emerging topics, community news, regional updates and
more, for Latin America, MENA, Africa and Asia regions.

https://www.digitalrights.community/blog/regionalbriefsjune2022

2. Apply for the Psychosocial Educational Retreat for Managers and
Community Leaders

TCU is offering a psycho-educational retreat for managers and
community leaders of the digital rights community, which will be given
excellent Columbia University trained mental health professionals, who
specialize in providing support to communities with limited resources.
The workshop will provide participants with the opportunity to learn a
variety of skills, from how to deal with mental health distress in a
group setting, to identifying signs of burnout, to how to implement
tools and structures to improve team health and address interpersonal
conflict in a group setting.

To apply, please fill out the following form by July 30.

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

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### Digital Rights in the Community ###\

1. Article19 Releases the Global Expression Report for 2022.

 The Global Expression Report is an annual look at the right to free
expression and information across the world. The GxR metric tracks
freedom of expression across 161 countries via 25 indicators to create
a score between 0 and 100 for every country. That score places it in
an expression category. In this year’s report, Article19 looks at
changes over time across three time periods: the past year
(2020–2021), the last 5 years (2016–2021), and the last 10 years
(2011–2021). The report’s data shows that globally, freedom of
expression has declined significantly since 2011. 80% of the global
population live with less freedom of expression than they had a decade
ago.

https://www.article19.org/gxr-22/

2. The U.S. Impact on Israel’s Surveillance Sector

7amleh released a paper analyzing the impact of US government and
corporate policies on Israel’s surveillance sector. Israel’s
surveillance technology drew condemnation all over the world this
year, particularly to its use of facial recognition, biometric
databases, and abusingly monitoring Palestinians. Israel’s abuses on
Palestinians are a threat to human rights globally.
This development did not occur in isolation and came in large part due
to the US supported corporate-state surveillance model, particularly
post-9/11.

https://7amleh.org/2022/07/04/supply-and-demand-the-u-s-impact-on-israel-s-surveillance-sector

3. Using Geographical Data for Journalists | Course from July 11 to August 12

The Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas is organizing a
four-week online course titled "Hands-on Mapping for Journalists: How
to use geographical data to improve your stories”. The aim is for
students  to learn powerful mapping skills to apply to their reporting
— making it easier to analyze geographical data and turn that data
into maps for stories. It will be held from July 11 to August 7, 2022.

https://journalismcourses.org/course/hands-on-mapping-for-journalists-how-to-use-geographical-data-to-improve-your-stories/

4. Activist Tech Security | July 12th

Power Shift Network is organizing a webinar on activist tech security.
Speakers include organizers from Newark Water Coalition, Campaign to
Fight Toxic Prisons, and a campaign & digital strategist who
specializes in decentralized organizing networks. They will be
speaking about organizing in ways that strategically avoid and counter
the tracking, targeting, and isolating of activists and ultimately
prevent one another from being trafficked into the criminal punishment
system.  It is happening on July 12th from 6:30pm to 8pm EST.

Register here: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_vV2MjO6VTkOe_78ufbhOTw?link_id=1&can_id=db95f965fad2f6c6f906b7a243da8c38&source=email-in-2-weeks-activist-tech-security&email_referrer=email_1598673&email_subject=in-5-days-activist-tech-security

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### Digital Rights Resources ###

1. Opinion Piece | Big Tech’s Include on EU Legislation

EU chief negotiator comments on the ways Big Tech attempted to
“undermine democracy” through his own account coming across the tech
platforms in Brussel policymaking. He goes through the e-legislation
dating from 2000 and describes how this evolved with the latest EU
legislation attempting to keep users safe and cutting down market
abuses. He ends the piece with a call to hold firms like Google and
Meta accountable to these practices.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jun/28/i-saw-first-hand-tech-giants-seduced-eu-google-meta

2. Digital Repression in Middle East and North Africa

The European Council on Foreign Relations released a policy brief on
digital repression in the MENA region. One finding shows that Saudi
Arabia and the UAE are the leading exponents of digital
authoritarianism in the Middle East, with the two states intensifying
their collaboration with China and Israel to gain greater access to
advanced technologies. EU governments have been targeted by this
technology in NSO Group’s Pegasus scandal, which made these
technologies an even more urgent security issue for their agenda.

https://ecfr.eu/publication/iron-net-digital-repression-in-the-middle-east-and-north-africa/

3. Shaping Digital Public Spaces

Big Tech’s impact on democracy is apparent and regulators are starting
to take heed. In the last few months, the European Union passed two of
the most significant pieces of legislation aiming to regulate Big Tech
companies and their impact on polarization. For example, a German
court ruled that Facebook is accountable for removing “identical and
core similar” illegal hate speech from their platform once detected.
In relation to this topic, SuperrrLab interviewed the founder of
HateAid -- an organization supporting victims of digital violence --
about the future of tech policy in Europe and what  it could mean for
democracy.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ashoka/2022/07/04/shaping-our-digital-public-spaces--and-why-democracy-depends-on-it/?sh=5f27e8107f0e

4. Motherboard: Publishing Anom Code the FBI Used to Wiretap

Last year, the FBI and its international partners announced Operation
Trojan Shield, in which the FBI secretly ran an encrypted phone
company called Anom for years and used it to hoover up tens of
millions of messages from Anom users. Anom was “marketed to criminals”
and ended up in the hands of over 300 criminal syndicates worldwide.
The landmark operation has led to more than 1,000 arrests including
alleged top tier drug traffickers and massive seizures of weapons,
cash, narcotics, and luxury cars. Motherboard obtained this underlying
code of the Anom app and is now publishing sections of it due to the
public interest in understanding how law enforcement agencies tackle
encrypted communications.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/v7veg8/anom-app-source-code-operation-trojan-shield-an0m

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

1. Ongoing Developments: Digital Rights Post-Roe v. Wade, In the US and Abroad

After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, and therefore
constitutional protections for abortions, how personal data related to
fertility and abortion access is used, or misused, has come into
increased focus. The PBS NewsHour’s Digital Anchor Nicole Ellis on
June 30 spoke with Electronic Frontier Foundation Executive Director
Cindy Cohn about best practices for protecting data use and privacy
for people amid these new abortion restrictions. Watch the interview
here:

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/watch-live-what-to-know-about-tech-surveillance-and-abortion-access

Those seeking to share information online about abortion, whether it's
about the procedure itself or where to legally access it, will be in
the crosshairs of restrictive state laws and changing social media
policies. There is serious confusion reigns around what can and cannot
be said about abortion in different online spaces. In an environment
that's increasingly hostile to First Amendment rights, neither
governments nor private companies are in a strong position to protect
online speech.

https://www.axios.com/2022/07/01/roe-battlefield-online-abortion-information

Fortunately, there are lawmakers in the US working on protecting user
data. The My Body, My Data Act, introduced in the House on June 16 and
later in the Senate, would task the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
with enforcing a national privacy standard for reproductive health
data collected by apps, cell phones and search engines. It would
require that companies collect and store only the health information
that is strictly needed to provide their services. It would also give
users the right to access or delete their personal data. Lawmakers
introduced another bill on June 23 called the Stop Anti-Abortion
Disinformation (SAD) Act. It aims to crack down on misleading
advertising by anti-abortion pregnancy centers, known as crisis
pregnancy centers, which often style themselves as reproductive health
clinics without making it clear they are faith-based organizations
whose mission it is to dissuade pregnant women from having abortions.

https://time.com/6193224/abortion-privacy-data-reform/ (paywall)

The implications due to government interconnectivities has worried
other nations. For example, Kenya has gradually liberalized its
abortion laws in recent years, but activists are concerned that the
overturning of Roe v. Wade by the U.S. Supreme Court could set back
their progress. They are determined to continue their fight, drawing
inspiration from Latin America, where three countries have expanded
abortion rights in the last year.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/05/kenya-unsafe-abortion-restrictions-roe/

2. Turkey’s Latest Attempt at Online Censorship Backfired

Following the news that Turkish authorities blocked German broadcaster
Deutsche Welle (DW) on June 30 amid claims on licensing issues, the
search for the site has skyrocketed among citizens.

https://www.techradar.com/news/turkeys-latest-attempt-at-online-censorship-has-backfired

3. LockDown Mode: Apple Expands on Protecting Users

Last week, Apple detailed two initiatives to help protect users who
may be personally targeted by some of the most sophisticated digital
threats, such as those from private companies developing
state-sponsored mercenary spyware. Lockdown Mode, coming this fall
with iOS 16, iPadOS 16, and macOS Ventura, is an extreme, optional
protection for the very small number of users who face grave, targeted
threats to their digital security. Turning on Lockdown Mode further
hardens device defenses and strictly limits certain functionalities,
sharply reducing the attack surface that potentially could be
exploited by highly targeted mercenary spyware.

https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2022/07/apple-expands-commitment-to-protect-users-from-mercenary-spyware/

4. India: “Hostage-Taking Laws” Fueling Twitter Crackdown

In recent weeks, Twitter took down posts from several journalists and
at least one human rights organization following orders from the
Narendra Modi government. Twitter’s decisions appear to be a departure
from its past statements in India. Observers say that the current
crackdown is in part driven by a series of social media laws that have
taken effect since then — namely, India’s adoption of so-called
“hostage-taking laws.” Increasingly popular around the world,
“hostage-taking laws,” are government mandates that require social
media companies to have physical offices and employees in the
countries where they operate.

https://restofworld.org/2022/twitters-censorship-india/

5. Taiwan: Content Regulation Challenging Tech Industry

Last week, Taiwan released a draft regulation named the Digital
Intermediary Service Act. It requires platform operators to create a
complaints mechanism anyone can use to request content takedowns,
remove illegal content at speed, undergo audits to demonstrate they
can do so, and respond promptly to orders to remove content. Taiwanese
and foreign businesses will have to comply.

https://www.theregister.com/2022/06/30/taiwan_digital_intermediary_service_act/

6. South Africa: Information Rights of Poor

South Africa’s Constitutional Court has decided to strike down the
government’s plans to end old-style analogue television broadcasting
at the end of June. The decision upholds the right to information,
which poor South Africans would have been denied as the government has
been slow to roll out the devices they need to access the new digital
signal. However, the decision further delays migration to digital
broadcasting and could leave South Africans struggling longer without
needed bandwidth.
https://theconversation.com/digital-migration-court-delay-upholds-information-rights-of-poor-south-africans-185922

7. In Sudan, Internet and Phone Lines Cut Amid Demonstrations

Security forces killed at least eight protesters in Sudan last week as
large crowds took to the streets despite heavy security and a
communications blackout to rally against the military leadership that
seized power eight months ago.

It was the first time in months of protests that internet and phone
services had been cut. After the military takeover, extended internet
blackouts were imposed in an apparent effort to weaken the protest
movement. Phone calls within Sudan were also cut and security forces
closed bridges over the Nile linking Khartoum, Omdurman and Bahri -
another step typically taken on big protest days to limit the movement
of marchers.

https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/internet-cut-sudans-capital-ahead-pro-democracy-protests-2022-06-30/

8. Media Blackout in Occupied parts of Ukraine: Russia Takes TV and
Websites Offline

Pro-Russian TV and websites are being promoted inside occupied parts
of Ukraine amid a wave of media repression. Analysis suggests Russia's
messaging is aimed at discrediting the Kyiv government, but Ukrainians
are finding ways around the blackout.

https://news.sky.com/story/ukraine-war-russia-takes-tv-and-websites-offline-as-part-of-media-blackout-in-occupied-territories-12634539

9. China: Controlling Livestreamers Behaviors, Speech, and Dress

Livestreaming took off in China in 2016 and has since become one of
the nation’s favorite ways to spend its time, with 635 million annual
viewers. Top livestreamers command audiences in e-commerce, music,
gaming, and comedy, and they make huge amounts of money from their
millions of devoted fans. As a result, they often possess as much
influence as A-list celebrities.
Unfortunately, this business has become the latest target in China’s
new wave of censorship. China’s top cultural authorities released a
new policy document on June 22 titled “Code of Conduct for Online
Streamers”. It is designed to instruct streamers on what is expected
from them. Having managed to operate under the radar in recent years,
livestreamers are now facing the full force of China’s censorship
machine.

https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/07/04/1055349/china-controls-livestreamers-act-dress/

10. In Singapore: Online Safety or Censorship in Disguise?

Earlier this month, the Ministry of Communications and Information
announced a proposal for two codes of practice that would require
social media companies to have “system-wide processes” to deal with
sexual or violent content, and give authorities the power to order
companies to disable access to specific content for users in
Singapore. The government framing is that “monsters lurk on the
internet” and the government persists that it needs even more powers
to deal with them. What might fall afoul of the government’s safety
concerns?

https://restofworld.org/2022/singapore-new-online-safety-laws-censorship/

_________________________________________________

### 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

Sir Harry Evans Global Fellowship
Deadline: August 15
https://www.durham.ac.uk/sir-harry-evans-memorial-fund/global-fellowship/

Mozilla Tech Policy Fellowship
Deadline: Not Specified
https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/blog/mozilla-is-seeking-senior-tech-policy-fellows-apply-today/

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/

Open Tech Fund | Secure Usability and Accessibility Lab
Deadline: Rolling
https://apply.opentech.fund/

Greater Internet Freedom Project - Central Asia
Deadline: July 15
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfsjrSEiUS-ptGhFvDOP5wFcQ9XEK7mXo9koGFDLG-4TqhxwA/viewform

Sustainable Protection Fund - Sub-Saharan Africa
Deadline: July 24
https://www.digitaldefenders.org/sustainable-protection-fund-open-call-for-sub-saharan-africa/

_________________________________________________

### Global Events Calendar ###

PETS 2022
July 11 - 15
Sydney, Australia
https://petsymposium.org/2022/stipends.php

Glitter Meetup: Surveillance in the Anthropocene
July 14
9am EDT / 1pm UTC
https://internetfreedomfestival.org/wiki/index.php/July_14_2022_GM

Latin America Meetup
July 20
6:30pm EDT / 10:30pm UTC
https://internetfreedomfestival.org/wiki/index.php/20_de_Julio,_2022_LATAM

Africa Meetup
July 27
9am EDT / 1pm UTC
https://internetfreedomfestival.org/wiki/index.php/July_27,_2022_,_Africa_Meetup

MENA Meetup
July 27
11am EDT / 3pm UTC
https://internetfreedomfestival.org/wiki/index.php/July_27_2022,_MENA_Meetup

Glitter Meetup: Introducing The Meme Studies Research Network
July 28
9am EDT / 1pm UTC
https://internetfreedomfestival.org/wiki/index.php/July_28_2022_GM

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

✎ Diversity & Inclusion Manager | SOAS University of London
+ London, UK
https://vacancies.soas.ac.uk/job/292287

✎ Regional Education & Communities Coordination | Digital Security Helpline
+ Remote
https://accessnow.bamboohr.com/jobs/view.php?id=131

✎ Full-time Research Assistant | Oxford Internet Institutet
+ Oxford, UK
https://my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecruit/erq_jobspec_version_4.display_form?p_company=10&p_internal_external=E&p_display_in_irish=N&p_process_type=&p_applicant_no=&p_form_profile_detail=&p_display_apply_ind=Y&p_refresh_search=Y&p_recruitment_id=158861

✎ Postdoctoral Researcher | Oxford Internet Institute
+ Oxford, UK
https://my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecruit/erq_jobspec_version_4.display_form?p_company=10&p_internal_external=E&p_display_in_irish=N&p_process_type=&p_applicant_no=&p_form_profile_detail=&p_display_apply_ind=Y&p_refresh_search=Y&p_recruitment_id=158856

✎ Technologist - Information Security | Human Rights Watch
+ Remote
https://boards.greenhouse.io/humanrightswatch/jobs/6188731002

✎ Technologist (Guidance) Information Security | Human Rights Watch
+ Remote
https://boards.greenhouse.io/humanrightswatch/jobs/6188734002

✎ Postdoctoral Fellow | Digital Interests Lab
+ New York, USA
https://apply.interfolio.com/106757

✎ Business Developer | Open Knowledge Foundation
+ Remote
https://okfn.org/about/jobs/business-developer-july-2022/

✎ Trauma-informed content advisor [Portuguese & English] | Chayb
+ Remote
https://chayn.notion.site/Trauma-informed-content-advisor-Portuguese-English-78f8923d52754800adc4b60fd1b5327b

✎ Fellowship | Landecker Foundation + Humanity in Action
+ Remote
https://www.humanityinaction.org/landeckerdemocracyfellowship-cfa/

✎ Junior Sales Development Representative (Contract) | Wikimedia Foundation
+ Remote
https://grnh.se/958ca3421us

✎ Senior Software Engineer - Growth | Wikimedia Foundation
+ Remote
https://grnh.se/47279ae31us

✎ Manager, Global Travel and Convening | Wikimedia Foundation
+ Remote
https://grnh.se/47279ae31us

✎ Senior C Developer | Wire
+ Berlin, Germany; Remote; Hybrid
https://short.sg/j/19882237

✎ Sales Development Representative - Latin America (m/d/f) | Wire
+ Remote
https://short.sg/j/19426327

✎ Sales Development Representative DACH (m/f/d) (German Speaking) | Wire
+ Berlin, Germany; Remote; Hybrid
https://short.sg/j/19749230

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_________________________________________________

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If you have any questions or want to learn more about partnerships,
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for like-minded organizations and people.

(((Hugs & light)))

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