Digital Rights Weekly | [Digital Rights Weekly] May 23-27

Fri May 27 19:34:12 CEST 2022

Hello Digital Rights Defenders!

Here is your weekly update on digital rights around the world for the
weeks of May 23 - 27. As a reminder,  you can submit your news for the
newsletter here: https://www.digitalrights.community/weekly-newsletter

###  Upcoming Virtual TCU Events ###

June 2 | Glitter Meetup: Inclusion: Not Just an Add On
Garnett Achieng will present on inclusive tech design to help develop
and deploy non discriminatory technologies.
https://internetfreedomfestival.org/wiki/index.php/June_2_2022_GM

June 16 | Digital Rights Job Fair
See description below

June 22 | CKS: Pathways to Organizational Health
Join us on June 22 to learn about Team CommUNITY’s recently published
Community Health Report, Exploring Pathways to Improve Organizational
Health.
https://digitalrights.formstack.com/forms/cks58

June 22 | Latin America Meetup
Los meetups mensuales Latinoamericanos son un espacio para charlar,
compartir proyectos, y ayudarnos entre todes a solucionar lo que
podamos en las no tan buenas.
https://internetfreedomfestival.org/wiki/index.php/22_de_Junio,_2022_LATAM

## Team CommUNITY Update ##

1. The Community Health Report is Published

We are happy to announce the release of the Community Health Report,
Pathways to Organizational Recovery.  The annual report is a tool to
strengthen the health and well-being of digital rights networks across
the world. This year’s edition provides community leaders and members
with analysis, trends, and recommendations so they can prioritize the
wellbeing of their teams, and improve employee health to advance
internet freedoms for all.

https://www.digitalrights.community/blog/announcing-the-community-health-repor-org-pathways

2. Looking for a NEW job in Digital Rights? Or just want to explore
your options?? Join us on June 16!

Several more organizations have been added to our June 16 Job Fair! We
will be closing registration soon, so RSVP as soon as you can. Current
participating orgs include: Least Authority, Numun Fund, EDRI,
Cryptopad, Open Culture Foundation, Tor, IVPN, Just Tech at SSRC, PEN
America, Cloudflare, Calyx Institute, Freedom of the Press Foundation,
Digital Asia Hub, Greatfire, Globaleaks, SMEX, The Engine Room,
Horizontal, OpenArchive, Open Tech Fund, Ranking Digital Rights,
Article19

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

_________________________________________________

### Digital Rights in the Community ###

1. Roskomsvoboda Lawyers Succeeded in Lifting the Blocking of the Tor
Project in Russia

Thanks to the efforts from Roskomsvoboda, an organization that
counters internet censorship in Russia, the appellate court reversed
the decision from 18th December 2017 of Saratov district court, to
block  website the Tor Project. Although this is a positive
development, the case is likely to return to the courts of first
instance within a month.

https://roskomsvoboda.org/post/rks-lawyers-tor-project-site-appellate-court/

2. Pan-African Enterprise Paradigm Initiative Launches 2021 Report on
Digital Rights and Inclusion

Paradigm Initiative, and a host of  partners across 17 African
countries, organized the Digital Rights and Inclusion Forum 2022,
which brought together over 800 delegates and participants for 39 days
to dissect the state of  digital rights and inclusion in Africa. It
concluded in Kenya with the launch of PIN’s 2021 Annual Digital Rights
and Inclusion Report –  LONDA. The report expands on last year’s
report with findings from 22 countries, againstthe backdrop of a
widening digital divide, and captures the gaps and proffers
recommendations to achieve a digitally inclusive and rights-respecting
Africa.

https://paradigmhq.org/report/londa-report-2021/

3. Report on Tech’s Failure to Act on Anti-Muslim Hate

Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) released a report on tech’s
failure to act on Anti-Muslim hate. In a joint statement in 2019,
Meta, Twitter, and Google committed to uphold the Christchurch Call to
Eliminate Terrorist and Violent Extremist Content Online.
Unfortunately, the CCDH report shows that social media companies,
including TikTok, have failed to act on 89% of posts containing
anti-Muslim hatred and Islamophobic content reported to them. CCDH
researchers reported 530 posts which contain disturbing, bigoted, and
dehumanizing content that target Muslim people through racist
caricatures, conspiracies, and false claims.

https://counterhate.com/research/anti-muslim-hate/

4. Call for Participation: Training of Facilitators on Holistic Security

Urgent Action Fund Africa has a call for applications for a training
of facilitators for North African feminists and womn human rights
defenders. The project aims to build feminist focal points in Northern
Africa by training women human rights defeners from the region  on the
concept of holistic security. Application deadline is on June 9 2022.

https://www.uaf-africa.org/call-for-participation-training-of-facilitators-on-holistic-security/

5. Amnesty International and Fondation Botnar Launch Program to Help
with Digital Rights Campaign

Children and young people around the world are being subjected to
invasive data collection, cyber bullying, online abuse and explicit
content. Yet tech executives and governments do not protect the rights
of children online. There is also a lack of  data and evidence on how
gaps in regulation are affecting their lives, and increasing
inequalities. Amnesty International and Fondation Botnar have launched
a six-year program enabling children and young people to co-create
online platforms and other digital technologies that protect their
rights – and their health and well-being.
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/05/amnesty-international-and-fondation-botnar-launch-first-large-scale-programme-to-help-children-and-young-people-campaign-for-their-digital-rights/

6. New Report: Microsoft Bing’s Chinese Political Censorship of
Autosuggestions in North America

CitizenLab released a report on how the Chinese government policies
translate to censoring autosuggestions in North America. The research
shows that Bing’s censorship of autosuggestions on China’s politics is
not restricted to mainland China but also extends to at least two
other regions, the United States and Canada. These countries  are not
subject to China’s laws and regulations pertaining to information
control. Does Bing’s development team follow Chinese principles and
norms concerning political expression? Or Is Bing’s censorship of
users in the US and Canada an unintentional result of their censorship
of Chinese users? Can Microsoft address this problem? Find the answers
to these questions and more:

https://citizenlab.ca/2022/05/bada-bing-bada-boom-microsoft-bings-chinese-political-censorship-autosuggestions-north-america/

7. 2021 Surveillance Transparency Report Highlights the Urgency for Change

The U.S. Intelligence Community (IC) released its Annual Statistical
Transparency Report disclosing the use of national security
surveillance laws for 2021. It documents the wide-ranging overreach of
intelligence agencies and the continued misuse of surveillance
authorities to spy on millions of Americans.

The report chronicles how Section 702, an amendment to the Foriegn
Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), that authorizes the U.S.
government to engage in mass surveillance of foreign targets’
communications, is still being abused by the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI) to spy on Americans without a warrant. The report
reveals that between December 2020 and November 2021, the FBI queried
the data of potentially more than 3,000,000 “U.S. persons” without a
warrant. Congress will have the opportunity to address this massive
warrantless surveillance program by the end of 2023. If not
legislatively renewed by then, the authorities for Section 702 are
scheduled to end the many years of overreach by the intelligence
community and close warrantless access to our data.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/05/new-surveillance-transparency-report-documents-urgent-need-change

_________________________________________________

### Digital Rights Resources ###

1, Eight Nonfiction Books About Censorship

Book Riot listed a wide range of books covering different facets of
censorship, from historical topics like the history of Nazi book
burning, to heartwarming attempts to rectify wrongs like the Brooklyn
Library offering teens across the U.S. access to banned ebooks, to
comprehensive guides on fighting book bans with an anti-censorship
tool kit .Some of these books were written decades ago, but the
censorship methods and results remain the same. Check out these books
and stay tuned to learn about more books on censorship:

https://bookriot.com/nonfiction-books-about-censorship/
_________________________________________________

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

1. Twitter Will Hide False Tweets from High-Profile Accounts During Crisis

Twitter is rolling out a crisis misinformation policy to ensure that
it does not amplify falsehoods during times of widespread strife. To
determine whether a tweet is misleading, Twitter will require
verification from credible, public sources, including conflict
monitoring groups, humanitarian organizations, open source
investigators, journalists and more. If the platform finds that the
tweet is misleading, it’ll slap a warning notice on the tweet, turn
off likes, retweets and shares, and link to more details about the
policy. These tweets will also stop surfacing on the home page, search
or explore. Notably, Twitter will “preserve this content for
accountability purposes,” so it will remain online. Users will just
have to click through the warning to view the tweet.

Even so, these policies are never 100% effective, and much content
that violates guidelines escapes detection anyway. While these
policies might be well intentioned, they can only function as
effectively as they’re enforced.

https://techcrunch.com/2022/05/19/twitter-crisis-misinformation-policy/

2. Revealing Users’ Locations: China’s New Surveillance & Repression Tactic

China’s censors have relied on multiple, coordinated tactics to
control the country’s internet, including deleting posts, suspending
accounts, blocking keywords, and arresting the most outspoken critics.
Now they are displaying social media users’ locations beneath posts.
Authorities say the automatically displayed location tags will post
overseas disinformation campaigns “intended to destabilize China”. In
reality, this offers new fuel for pitched online battles that
increasingly link Chinese citizens’ locations with their national
loyalty. Chinese people posting from overseas, and even from provinces
deemed insufficiently patriotic, are now easily targeted by
nationalist influencers, whose fans harass them or report their
accounts.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/18/business/china-internet-censors-ip-address.html

3. Facebook Anti-terror Policy Lands Head of Afghan Red Crescent
Society (ARCS) on Censorship List

Internal company materials reviewed by The Intercept show that Matiul
Haq Khalis, the head of ARCS, was added to the company’s stringent
censorship list in late April.  Facebook’s decision mechanism disrupts
the work of a globally recognized organization working to ease the
suffering  of tens of millions of civilians. Facebook adding him to
the Dangerous Individuals list under its most restrictive “Tier 1”
category means that Facebook and Instagram users around the world are
now barred from praising, supporting, or representing Khalis. This
also means even a photo of him at an official ARCS event, quotation of
remarks, or positive mention of him in the context of the
organization’s aid work would risk deletion, as would any attempt on
his part to use the company’s platform to communicate, either in
Afghanistan or abroad.

https://theintercept.com/2022/05/22/facebook-ban-afghanistan-aid-blacklist/

3. The MFWA Condemns the Killing of a Student over WhatsApp Page

The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) roundly condemns the
gruesome killing of Deborah Samuel on accusations of blasphemy and
demands a thorough probe into the incident and justice for the victim.
Deborah  had protested against what she felt was the flooding of a
common academic WhatsApp page with religious posts. She also made
critical comments on religion which were distorted by others through
word of mouth, which lead to her murder.  The MFWA urges the Nigerian
authorities to hold Deborah’s killers accountable, calling on
religious leaders, political players, civic education institutions,
schools, and civil society organizations in Nigeria to embark on a
robust campaign to deradicalise the youth in Nigeria and promote
inter-religious dialogue and tolerance.
https://ifex.org/death-of-student-over-blasphemy-accusation-condemned/

4. Platform (Un)Accountability in Buffalo’s Massacre

The white supremacist attack on a predominantly black neighborhood in
Buffalo put media platforms under the spotlight. 4chan, a largely
unmoderated site that has been the breeding ground for several
tragedies and controversies over the years. The platform appears to
have played a role in inspiring Saturday's attack, and the owner has
yet to issue a statement.

Links to copies of the graphic shooting video and praise for the
gunman continue to pop up around the platform. In a 180-page document
that is believed to be authored by the murder suspect, he said he
began visiting the online forum site 4chan in 2020, drawing
inspiration from racist and hateful threads and weapons forums. He
also appears to have hinted at his plans on 4chan, according to an
online diary that has been attributed to the suspect.  Although
flawed, platforms like Facebook and Twitter have some terms of service
agreements for users that lay out prohibited behavior like hate
speech, harassment, and racist speech. 4chan, however, has not adopted
any content moderation policies.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/18/tech/4chan-buffalo-shooting-accountability/index.html

DemocracyNow interviewed Rashad Robinson, president of Colors of
Change, an organization workingt to create a more human and less
hostile world for Black people, and all people. Robinson reinforced
the need to regulate BigTech, particularly for hate speech, while
noting their primary focus on placing profit over people.  He notes
that the challenge is “a whole incentive structure, a whole profit
incentive structure, which has incentivized the type of content and
disinformation and hate-filled rhetoric that we see online…We have
watched social media platforms refuse to deal with this, because
self-regulated companies are unregulated companies.” Listen to the
important conversation here:

https://www.democracynow.org/2022/5/17/unregulated_social_media_parallels_buffalo_massacre

5. India Says VPN Firms Unwilling to Comply with New Rules Will Have to Leave

India is pushing ahead with its new cybersecurity rules that will
require cloud service providers and VPN operators to maintain names of
their customers and their IP addresses and suggested firms unwilling
to comply should pull out of the world’s second-largest internet
market.

The new rules, which were unveiled late last month and go into effect
late June, won’t be applicable to corporate and enterprise VPNs, the
government agency clarified. The Indian Computer Emergency Response
Team clarified on Wednesday that “virtual private server (VPS)
providers, cloud service providers, VPN service providers, virtual
asset service providers, virtual asset exchange providers, custodian
wallet providers and government organizations” shall follow the
directive, called Cyber Security Directions, that requires them to
store customers’ names, email addresses, IP addresses,
know-your-customer records and financial transactions for a period of
five years.

ProtonVPN said that this new VPN regulation is an assault on privacy
and threatens to put citizens under a microscope of surveillance.

https://techcrunch.com/2022/05/18/india-reiterates-its-strict-vpn-rules-breach-disclosures-despite-concerns/

6. Protests Continue In Iran's Western Province Amid Internet Blackout

Anti-government protests continued in a western province in Iran last
Wednesday amid a total internet blackout, while city bus drivers
remained on strike in Tehran. The Iranian media have apparently been
banned from reporting on the protests that began two weeks ago.
Filling in for Iranian media, social media users say protesters took
to the streets again and were shot at by security forces. Extensive
disruption of access to the Internet has been reported in Dezful -  a
city of 250,000 people - as well as other areas of the province.

https://www.iranintl.com/en/202205193958

7. U.S. Panel Combatting Disinformation Suspended

The Department of Homeland Security announced on Wednesday that it was
suspending the work of an internal advisory board intended to combat
disinformation after what the department described as a deliberate
disinformation campaign. The creation of the panel, called the
Disinformation Governance Board, set off a firestorm of criticism when
it was announced last month from across the political spectrum,
including civil liberty groups. The fiercest denunciations came from
Republican leaders and commentators claiming that this was an
Orwellian Ministry of Truth that would police people’s speech.

Contrary to what it was accused of being, the advisory board was meant
to coordinate the department’s various agencies in the fight against
malicious disinformation by foreign adversaries, drug or human
traffickers or other international crime groups. Unfortunately, its
lead members faced vitriolic and highly personal harassment and abuse
online. Attacks like the Buffalo massacre are increasingly showing the
urgency for fair regulatory boards.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/18/technology/disinformation-governance-board.html

 ____________________________

### 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/

Global Change Makers
Deadline: Rolling basis until 29 May
http://global-changemakers.net/grants

IT for Change
Deadline: May 31
https://itforchange.net/call-for-applications-big-tech-society-media-fellowships-2022

Processing Foundation
Deadline: June 10
https://medium.com/processing-foundation/open-call-processing-community-lead-fellowship-f9bc1c4e18a6

_________________________________________________

### Global Events Calendar ###

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

Glitter Meetup: Inclusion: Not Just an Add On
June 2
9am EDT / 1pm UTC
https://internetfreedomfestival.org/wiki/index.php/June_2_2022_GM

Digital Rights Job Fair
June 16
Online
https://digitalrights.formstack.com/forms/jobfair

Pathways to Organizational Health
June 22
10am EDT / 2pm UTC
https://digitalrights.formstack.com/forms/cks58

LATAM Monthly Meetup
June 22
6:30pm EDT / 10:30pm UTC
https://internetfreedomfestival.org/wiki/index.php/22_de_Junio,_2022_LATAM

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

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

✎ Campaigner - Surveillance | Access Now
+ Africa, Asia-Pacific/Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Europe
(Belgium, Germany, UK)
https://accessnow.bamboohr.com/jobs/view.php?id=120&source=aWQ9MjA%3D

✎ Python Developer | The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting
Project (OCCRP)
+ Remote in Europe (0 - +4 GMT)
https://www.occrp.org/en/occrp-jobs/python-developer

✎ Senior Manager, Global Fundraising Campaigns | Wikimedia Foundation
+ Remote
https://grnh.se/cf2bc9b91us

✎ Civic Innovation Lab Director | BetaNYC
+ New York City, NY, USA
https://beta.nyc/civic-innovation-lab-director/

✎ Legal Fellow (Paid) | Open Technology Institute/Wireless Future
Project - New America
+ Washington DC, USA
https://newamerica.applytojob.com/apply/PnDWdC3J6H/

✎ Software Developer (Contract: Dangerzone) | Freedom of the Press Foundation
+ Remote
https://grnh.se/5da1e4395us

✎ Media and Communications Manager | Amnesty International (Amnesty Tech)
+ London, UK
https://careers.amnesty.org/vacancy/media-and-communications-manager-3357/3385/description/

✎ Researcher/Writer | AppleCensorship
+ Remote
https://applecensorship.com/applecensorship-is-recruitng-a-researcher-writer/

✎ Operations Architect aka Operations Director | Numun Fund
+ Remote
https://numunfund.notion.site/Operations-Architect-aka-Operations-Director-Numun-Fund-167e49d90f87477493d20307abb59d23

✎ Tech Weaver aka Tech Lead | Numun Fund
+ Remote
https://numunfund.notion.site/Tech-Weaver-aka-Tech-Lead-773f0e03afee4ff9bb9e8c84af0c8464

✎ IT Support Service Provider | Kamara
+ Remote
https://reliefweb.int/job/3848458/it-support-service-provider-overview

✎ Advocacy Officer | 7amleh
+ Remote
https://7amleh.org/2022/04/20/job-opportunity-eu-advocacy-officer

✎ Communications Manager | Digital Action
+ Remote (preference for Ireland, UK & Lebanon)
https://digitalaction.co/career/2022/5/18/were-recruiting-communications-manager

✎ Education Consultant | Freedom of the Press
+ Remote
https://freedom.press/jobs/?gh_jid=4015054005&gh_src=4926b8525us

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_________________________________________________

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If you have any questions or want to learn more about partnerships,
get in touch at team at digitalrights.community. We are always looking
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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