Digital Rights Weekly | July 11 - 15

[Team CommUNITY]

Hello Digital Rights Defenders!

Here is your weekly update on digital rights around the world for the
weeks of July 11 - 15. As a reminder, you can submit your news for the
newsletter here: https://www.digitalrights.community/weekly-newsletter

###  Upcoming Virtual TCU Events ###

July 20 | Lingua Cafe
https://internetfreedomfestival.org/wiki/index.php/Lingua_Cafe

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

July 21 | Glitter Meetup: Hijas de Internet (Internet's Daughters)
https://internetfreedomfestival.org/wiki/index.php/July_21_2022_GM


## Team CommUNITY Update ##

1. Join a Psychosocial Circle

Team CommUNITY is offering group sessions led by psychotherapists in
the Fall, which are limited to 6-10 people per circle Each circle will
run once a week from September 19 to December 9. They include:
Dealing with Grief, Skills Based Group for Men, Diaspora Group, LGBTQ
Support Group, Living in Survival Mode, Activist Fatigue, and
Racialized Trauma.

Circles allow individuals to process experience and emotions
collectively as a group, while learning adaptive coping mechanisms,
and connect with others facing similar challenges and/or experiences.
Signup by September 5, 2022

https://www.communityhealth.team/upcoming-circles


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

TCU application window for their psycho-educational retreat for
managers and community leaders is open! The retreat will provide
participants with the opportunity 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


### Digital Rights in the Community ###

1. Happy Birthday to Electronic Frontier Foundation!

This week, EFF celebrates its 32 years of fighting for technology
users around the world. Read their 30 decade reflection message here:
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/07/happy-birthday-eff

EFF is also inviting digital freedom supporters to take part in their
summer membership drive. Through July 20 only, you can be an EFF
member for $20 and get a set of Internet Action Patches. Each
embroidered patch represents the activism, privacy tech, and legal
work powered by EFF members.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/07/do-it-love-wild-web


2. Digital Health Week (Oct 10-16 2022)

Digital Health Week is a global moment where civil society
organisations, governments, private companies and health institutions
come together to champion digital health for Universal Health
Coverage. You can register to host events, make public commitments, or
tell your digital health story by creating multimedia content.

Find out how to participate at digitalhealthweek.co


3. Climate Disinformation | Response to EU Digital Services Act

The co-chair of climate disinformation at Friends of the Earth (FOE)
released a statement in response to the EU Digital Services Act, which
aims to regulate Big Tech’s harmful policies particularly in relation
to disinformation. The statement reinforces that “Social media
companies like Facebook, Twitter and Google should see the writing on
the wall and reduce climate disinformation on their platforms
immediately. Social media companies must also  disclose the data on
how climate disinformation is spreading widely on their platforms.”

https://foe.org/news/dsa-statement/

_________________________________________________

### Digital Rights Resources ###

1. The VPN Relationship Map: Who Owns Your Data?

Check out the relationships between corporate VPNs, media companies,
and Paid Affiliates in this interactive map. It shows every proven
relationship between media companies, content sites, corporate VPNs,
and independent VPNs that these researchers could find.

https://blog.windscribe.com/the-vpn-relationship-map/


2. Digital Repression Across Borders

Around the world, activists have fled authoritarian states for their
safety. But in their new homes, the intimidation continues, albeit in
the digital realm. Those threats—generally referred to as digital
transnational repression—include phishing attacks, zero-click spyware
hacks, social media page takedowns, SIM card hacks, and fake
invitations to conferences.

https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/07/08/1055582/digital-repression-across-borders-is-on-the-rise/

_________________________________________________

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

1. Twitter: Suing Elon Musk and India Government

Twitter said on Tuesday that it had sued the Indian government,
escalating the social media company’s fight in the country as Prime
Minister Narendra Modi seeks more control over critical online posts.
Twitter’s suit challenges a recent order from the Indian government
for the company to remove content and block dozens of accounts.
Twitter’s lawsuit is part of a broadening battle between the biggest
tech companies and governments around the world over who gets to
control information and how.

https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/twitter-sues-indias-government-over-its-control-of-online-speech.php

Twitter hired a U.S. law firm as it prepares to sue Elon Musk and
force him to complete the $44 billion acquisition of the social media
company. Musk terminated his deal, saying Twitter had failed to
provide information about fake accounts on the platform, after which
Twitter's chairman, Bret Taylor, vowed a legal fight.

https://www.reuters.com/technology/twitter-hires-legal-team-sue-musk-over-dropped-takeover-bloomberg-news-2022-07-10/?taid=62cb8448223285000125d23f
 (paywall)


2. How Drag Queens are Fighting Queer Censorship

After the Proud Boys targeted Drag Queen Story Hours throughout Pride
Month, one San Francisco-based drag performer is finding hope in young
people and the LGBTQ+ community. The attack against drag queens
mirrors decades of discrimination and censorship of  the LGBTQ+
community in the US.

https://progressive.org/latest/drag-queens-fighting-queer-censorship-swann-220706/


3. UN Warns of Dangerous Decline in Media Freedom

In a report to the Human Rights Council, UN Special Rapporteur on the
promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and
expression talks about the opportunities and challenges coming about
as a result of digital technology. Warning about the dangers, she
cited the erosion of independence, freedom and the plurality of voices
and opinions in state and corporate media, including digital
companies.

https://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2022/07/un-expert-warns-dangerous-decline-media-freedom


4. China: Hollywood Uncensored, Surveillance Technology in Myanmar,
and Pushback in the UK

Myanmar's junta government is installing Chinese-built cameras with
facial recognition capabilities in more cities across the country.
Since the February 2021 coup, local authorities have started new
camera surveillance projects for at least five cities.

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/exclusive-myanmars-junta-rolls-out-chinese-camera-surveillance-systems-more-2022-07-10/
(paywall)

A cross-party group of MPs is calling on the British government to ban
the sale and use of Chinese-made CCTV surveillance cameras.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/emmawoollacott/2022/07/05/uk-lawmakers-call-for-ban-on-chinese-surveillance-tools/?sh=1a78d913c574

Meanwhile, producers behind US blockbusters have kept in scenes that
could fail to pass China's censorship, which in turn could mean the
movies would not be screened in China.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/08/media/hollywood-china-censors-box-office-intl-hnk/index.html


5. “Blackout Challenge”: Parents Sue Ticktock After Their Children Died

The parents of two girls who said their children died as a result of a
“blackout challenge” on TikTok are suing the company, claiming its
algorithm intentionally served the children dangerous content that led
to their deaths. The girls were 8 and 9 when they died last year after
viewing the challenge, which encouraged users to choke themselves
until they passed out, according to the lawsuit, which was filed on
Thursday in Superior Court in Los Angeles County.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/06/technology/tiktok-blackout-challenge-deaths.html


6. “No Tech for Israeli Apartheid”

On Tuesday, protesters disrupted the keynote speech at Amazon Web
Services's (AWS) summit at the Javits Center in Manhattan to call
attention to Amazon's government contracts and surveillance tools.

The #NoTechForApartheid campaign has set its sights on Project Nimbus,
a $1.2 billion cloud computing contract won by AWS and Google to
consolidate Israeli government and military computational
infrastructure within its borders. Observers fear the project could
insulate the Israeli military from backlash stemming from the ongoing
occupation of Palestine.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/n7zbkx/no-tech-for-israeli-apartheid-protesters-disrupt-aws-conference-over-military-contract

The American defense contractor L3 Harris has abandoned talks to
acquire NSO Group’s surveillance technology after the White House said
any potential deal raised “serious counterintelligence and security
concerns for the US government”.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jul/10/us-defence-firm-ends-talks-to-buy-nso-groups-surveillance-technology


7. Lebanon Telecoms Mark-up Threatens MIgrants’ Link to Jobs and Safety

Since late 2019, Lebanon's currency has lost 95% of its value while
food and public transportation costs have risen roughly eleven-fold.
Internet use is responding to this challenge. Until this month,
Lebanon's telecoms sector had continued to use the government's old
peg of 1,500 Lebanese pounds to the dollar to charge for phone calls,
broadband and mobile internet. With slim revenues, the state struggled
to import enough fuel to run telecoms transmitter stations, leading to
cuts in coverage throughout 2021. To reverse that trend, Lebanon’s
cabinet said telecoms tariffs would be calculated based on the much
weaker flexible currency rate, which would cause up to four-fold
increases in customers’ bills. This mark up will be life-changing for
vulnerable workers.

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/lebanon-telecoms-mark-up-threatens-migrants-link-jobs-safety-2022-07-11/
(paywall)

_________________________________________________

### 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

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://www.opentech.fund/labs/sua-lab/

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

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

### Global Events Calendar ###

Lingua Cafe
July 20
10am EDT / 2pm UTC
https://internetfreedomfestival.org/wiki/index.php/Lingua_Cafe

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

Glitter Meetup: Hijas de Internet (Internet's Daughters) - The
Internet also belongs to children
July 21
9am EDT / 1pm UTC
https://internetfreedomfestival.org/wiki/index.php/July_21_2022_GM

Asia Meetup
July 27
4am EDT / 8am UTC
https://internetfreedomfestival.org/wiki/index.php/July_27,_2022_Asia_Meetup

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

Digital Health Week
October, 10 - 16
https://digitalhealthweek.co/

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

✎ Communications and Campaigns Intern (Paid) | European Digital Rights (EDRi)
+ Brussels, Belgium
https://edri.org/take-action/careers/edri-is-hiring-for-communications-and-campaigns-intern-paid/

✎ Senior Program Officer, Libraries | Wikimedia Foundation
+ Remote
https://grnh.se/8a4b43611us

✎ Senior Product Manager, Fundraising Technology | Wikimedia Foundation
+ Remote
https://grnh.se/a19d64541us

✎ Web Manager | Wikimedia Foundation
+ Remote
https://grnh.se/4fe3beba1us

✎ Android Dev passionate about Censorship | TunnelBear (McAfee)
+ Remote or Toronto, CA
https://www.tunnelbear.com/jobs/senior-android-developer

✎ Training Manager | Videre Est Credere
+ Remote
https://ideali.st/4VG7TG

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_________________________________________________

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(((Hugs & light)))