Digital Rights Weekly | July 31 - August 4

Thu Aug 3 16:02:16 CEST 2023

Hello Digital Rights Defenders!

Here is your weekly update on digital rights around the world for the
week of July 31 - August 4. As a reminder, you can submit your news
for the newsletter here:
https://www.digitalrights.community/weekly-newsletter

### Team CommUNITY (TCU) ###

1. RSVP for “The Wellbeing Monthly” series: Once a month join a
psychosocial educational workshop designed for digital rights
defenders!

Join "The Wellbeing Monthly", a monthly virtual educational workshop
series led by diverse mental health professionals. The online series
will run from June to December and are free of charge, and  focus on
psychoeducation and coping mechanisms on diverse topics including
anxiety and fear, guilt and survivors guilt, defeat and hopelessness,
trauma, and burnout and stress. Each month we will be announcing new
speakers, so check regularly! RVSP for the next  workshops:

August 8, Responding to Defeat and Creating Communities of Hope. The
RSVP form is closed, if you couldn't fill in on time, please email to
team at digitalrights.community

October 3, Imposter Syndrome in Activism: How Do We Cope?:
https://digitalrights.formstack.com/forms/wellbeingmonthly4

2. Take a look at our June Digital Rights Regional Briefs!!

Our Community Leads from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and MENA, bring
critical information about digital justice issues around the globe,
current opportunities for digital rights defenders, community news,
regional developments, and more! In Africa, you will navigate the
histories, presents and futures of technology’s connectivity
paradoxes. We are also exploring questions and solutions for
inclusivity and anti-casteism in the digital rights movements in Asia.
>From Latin America, you will read what the Colombian digital rights
organization, Karisma, recommends for the delivery apps’ algorithms in
order to improve platforms workers’ well-being. The MENA brief delves
into AI and how it is unfolding in the region’s various surveillance
systems. Check all this and more on the link below:

https://www.digitalrights.community/blog/regionalbriefsjune2023

3. Glitter Meetups Season Break: They Will Resume on October 5!

We had our last Glitter Meetup for the season on July 13. We will
resume on October 5, so stay tuned. We want to take the opportunity to
thank all our featured guests and Team CommUNITY's staff who have made
Glitter Meetups amazing, glittertastic spaces for our community!

4. How we are Approaching Safety, Security and Challenges for the
Global Gathering

Find out how we are approaching the 2023 Global Gathering (GG) to
address real challenges that impact safety and security of
participants. This year’s edition in Portugal is part of a 3-year
vision to grow the GG in a sustainable way. The event is less than two
months away, and will be used to collectively brainstorm not just how
the GG will evolve, but also the standards we want to see in our field
of practice.

https://www.digitalrights.community/blog/2023-global-gathering-how-we-are-approaching-safety-security-and-challenges

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### Digital Rights in the Community ###

1. Internews launches Digital Security Course for Human Rights and
Environmental Defenders
The initiative available in Spanish and Portuguese is a response to
the increase in violence against environmental and human rights
defenders. Within the framework of the Conservando Juntos project, in
partnership with the United States Agency for International
Development and Wildlife Conservation Society, Internews launches the
training initiative "Digital Security for Community Building":

https://internews.org/blog/internews-lanza-curso-de-seguridad-digital-para-defensores-de-derechos-humanos-y-del-medio-ambiente/

2. GCHR: Women Human Rights Defender Hiba Al-Hajji & Her Team Face a
Fierce Defamation Campaign

The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)
declares its full solidarity with woman human rights defender Hiba
Ezzideen Al-Hajji and the staff of the Equity & Empowerment
Organisation (E & E), who are subjected to a fierce defamation
campaign on social media, in addition to serious death threats. These
attacks are clearly a response to their peaceful and legitimate work
in the field of human rights, and in particular their unconditional
defense of women’s rights in Syria.

https://www.gc4hr.org/woman-human-rights-defender-hiba-al-hajji-and-her-team-face-a-fierce-defamation-campaign/

3. Press Release: Technology Can Be Transformative for Refugees but It
Can Also Hold Them Back

There is a simple narrative that digital technology makes migration
easier for refugees and other forcibly displaced people. Yet while
these technologies can assist decision-making, they do not always
improve migrants' lives.

https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/digital-technology-refugees

4. Join the Delta Mega Bzz Book Club

Delta Mega Bzz is a new community that embark on slow-paced, in-depth,
mostly online book clubs, podcast clubs, and documentary clubs in
order to strengthen movements and their ability to achieve their
goals, through conversations in community over transformative
materials. All the clubs are free, and will stay that way. The first
book club related to the digital rights community is Difficult
Conversations, by Heen, Patton and Stone of the Harvard Negotiation
Project. The club meetings will be over Zoom, every second Tuesday at
19:30 for 90 minutes, from August 29 until February next year.
Registrations are open until the end of September. Read more here:

https://cryptpad.fr/pad/#/2/pad/view/hHrvJMm1jRLG-xUqU8G2frwacbsM6aboljOh0kVxamw/

5. Reports from Our Community

a) The Engine Room launches Biometrics in the Humanitarian Sector Report

The Engine Room launches their latest research on biometrics in the
humanitarian sector. They took an updated look at the risks & benefits
of biometric collection in the humanitarian sector, examined some of
the institutional policies that shape their use and explored recent
use cases. The report counted with support from Open Society
Foundations. Review the research and a background primer on the link
below:

https://www.theengineroom.org/biometrics-humanitarian-sector-2023/

b) Paradigm Initiative Reports the State of Digital Rights and
Inclusion in 24 African Countries

This edition of Londa focuses on cross-cutting issues affecting
digital rights and Internet freedom in 2022. It also evaluates the
Universal Service Fund’s existence and performance across the 24
countries under review. Londa’s recommendations cover a range of
stakeholders, including the private sector, civil society,
governments, the media and academia. Review the report on the link
below:

https://paradigmhq.org/londa-22/

c) Senegal: Social Media Blocks and Network Outages Amid political Unrest

Violent protests erupted in Senegal on 1st June 2023 over the
sentencing of opposition leader Ousmane Sonko. On the same day, OONI
data collected from Senegal showed that ISPs started blocking access
to several instant messaging apps and social media platforms. Those
blocks appear to have been in place for a week, until 7th June 2023.
Meanwhile, Cloudflare observed three disruptions to traffic from
AS37649 (Free/Tigo), and two disruptions at Sudatel Senegal during
this period. Following the arrest of Ousmane Sonko on 28th July 2023,
the Senegalese Ministry of Communication, Telecommunications and the
Digital Economy issued another shutdown order on 31st July 2023 to cut
off mobile internet access. Review all their findings and conclusions
on the link below:

https://ooni.org/post/2023-senegal-social-media-blocks/

d) Citizen Lab: Russia’s Online Censorship Has Soared 30-Fold During Ukraine War

This report examines the accessibility of certain types of content on
VK (an abbreviation for “VKontakte”), a Russian social networking
service, in Canada, Ukraine, and Russia. Among these countries, they
found that Russia had the most limited access to VK social media
content, due to the blocking of 94,942 videos, 1,569 community
accounts, and 787 personal accounts in the country.

https://citizenlab.ca/2023/07/an-analysis-of-in-platform-censorship-on-russias-vkontakte/

Read the New York Time’s coverage of the report here:

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/26/technology/russia-censorship-ukraine-war.html

e) Examining the Effects of Hate Speech linked to Disinformation on
the Black LGBTQI+ Community in Rio de Janeiro

>From September to December 2022, Internews and local partner Data_Labe
conducted an Information Ecosystem Assessment (IEA) investigating how
members of the Black LGBTQIAP+ population of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,
find, share, value and trust information in their own local ecosystem.
The research paid particular attention to whether hate speech
increases and how it affects this community during electoral periods.

https://internews.org/story/examining-the-effects-of-hate-speech-linked-to-disinformation-on-the-black-lgbtqi-community-in-rio-de-janeiro/

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### Digital Rights Resources ###

1. Are VPNs Legal? The Worldwide Guide

As people seek to protect their online privacy and access content,
virtual private networks (VPNs) have become increasingly popular.
While the technology is legal in many countries –including Australia–
some have restricted or banned them. This article provides a
comprehensive guide to the legality of VPNs worldwide, including
information on where they are legal, illegal or restricted.

https://www.forbes.com/advisor/au/business/software/are-vpns-legal/ (paywall)

2. Articuladas, Paraguay, realizó guía en español para combatir la
desinformación y el discurso violento en Internet

La guía “Conexiones Constructivas en Línea” proporciona un marco de
referencia para comprender, enfrentar y contrarrestar el discurso anti
derechos, promoviendo la tolerancia, el respeto y la inclusión en
Internet. El discurso violento hacia las mujeres, la comunidad
LGBTIQ+, los activistas ambientales, afrodescendientes, e indígenas es
un problema persistente en nuestra sociedad. Accede a la guía en el
siguiente enlace:

https://heyzine.com/flip-book/7220385f87.html#page/2

_________________________________________________

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

1. Researchers Fight to Access Big Tech Data
Researchers continue to face roadblocks in trying to study how
long-dominant social media platforms operate even as the tech industry
is expanding its power into the new realm of artificial intelligence.

https://www.axios.com/2023/08/01/researchers-tech-access-facebook-ai

2. Facebook Bowed to White House Pressure, Removed Covid Posts
Facebook removed content related to Covid-19 in response to pressure
from the Biden administration, including posts claiming the virus was
man-made, according to internal company communications viewed by The
Wall Street Journal. The emails show Facebook executives discussing
how they managed users’ posts about the origins of a pandemic that the
administration was seeking to control.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/facebook-bowed-to-white-house-pressure-removed-covid-posts-2df436b7

3. Jordan Lawmakers Move to Criminalize Some Online Speech - Rights
Groups Accuse Kingdom of Censorship

The lower house of Jordan’s parliament passed legislation last week to
punish online speech deemed harmful to national unity, drawing
accusations from human rights groups of a new crackdown on free
expression in a country where censorship and repression are
increasingly common. All power in Jordan rests with Abdullah II, who
appoints and dismisses governments.
https://apnews.com/article/jordan-privacy-cybercrimes-social-media-law-rights-repression-2aecfec5c7a82d4db389ce0def01d54b

Jordanians protested the proposed cybercrime law:

https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/07/27/jordanians-protest-proposed-cybercrime-law/

Digital Rights Organizations’s Open Letter to the King of Jordan:
Repeal the 2023 Cybercrime Law:

https://aadr.network/en/2023/08/02/an-open-letter-to-the-king-of-jordan-repeal-the-2023-cybercrime-law/

4. Spain’s Unison Launches Global Management Platform for Digital Rights

Barcelona-based private music copyright management organization Unison
has introduced SOLO, a global management platform for digital rights.
SOLO will provide artists and creators with professional tools to
manage their digital rights, offering solutions for both copyright and
master rights, all without intermediaries.

https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/spains-unison-launches-global-management-platform-for-digital-rights-solo/

5. The Tribe That Wants to Get Rid of Internet

An Indigenous community in Indonesia has requested an internet
blackout in their area to minimize the "negative impact" of the online
world.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/2588764/indonesian-tribal-group-wants-internet-shut-off

6. Digital Rights & Access to Information in Venezuela

Laura Vidal
expands on the digital rights and access to information crisis in
Venezuela. This text is part of a wider research in the making, that
hopes to understand how Venezuelans are pushing against a system aimed
to isolate them:
https://www.apc.org/en/news/digital-repression-and-resistance-venezuela-silent-crisis-within-political-crisis

7. ‘It’s Pillage’: Thirsty Uruguayans Decry Google’s Plan to Exploit
Water Supply
Country suffering its worst drought in 74 years, with the government
even mixing saltwater into the drinking supply. A plan to build a
Google data center that will use millions of liters of water a day has
sparked anger in Uruguay, which is suffering its worst drought in 74
years.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/11/uruguay-drought-water-google-data-center

8. Is Civil Society in MENA Ready to Tackle AI’s Human Rights Challenges?

The development and adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
technologies in the MENA region may not be accelerating as much as
other parts of the world. However, given the dire human rights
situation, rising oppression, and lack of independent, democratic, and
robust institutions (data protection authorities, parliaments,
judiciary) that protect people from the harms of these technologies, a
wider scale adoption of AI would only further erode human rights.

https://genderit.org/feminist-talk/civil-society-mena-ready-tackle-ais-human-rights-challenges

9. Vietnam Orders Social Media Firms to Cut ‘Toxic’ Content Using AI

Vietnam’s demand that international social media firms use artificial
intelligence to identify and remove "toxic" online content is part of
an ever expanding and alarming campaign to pressure overseas platforms
to suppress freedom of speech in the country, rights groups, experts
and activists say.

https://www.voanews.com/a/vietnam-orders-social-media-firms-to-cut-toxic-content-using-ai-/7201741.html

10. Indonesia Blocks Musk’s X.com Under Curbs on Porn & Gambling

Elon Musk’s aspirations for X, the social media site formerly known as
Twitter, have hit a stumbling block in Indonesia after the site X.com
was blocked under the country’s curbs on online pornography and
gambling. Indonesia’s Ministry of Communication and Informatics said
the site was restricted as the domain had been previously used by
sites that did not adhere to the country’s strict laws against
“negative” content such as pornography and gambling.

https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2023/7/26/elon-musks-x-com-blocked-in-indonesia-under-curbs-on-porn

11. Anti-hate Speech Group Accuses Elon Musk’s X Corp of
Intimidation Over Legal Threat

The Center for Countering Digital Hate
claims publication of hateful material on Twitter has risen since Musk
took over.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/jul/31/anti-hate-speech-group-accuses-elon-musk-x-corp-intimidation

Check out the Center for Countering Digital Hate’s work:
https://counterhate.com

12. Visual Rebellion Reports that In Myanmar, Telegram is Used as a
Weapon to Destroy Lives
While Telegram is popular in the country as it is believed to be a
free and secure messaging app, its weak content moderation policies
are posing serious risks to human and digital rights: it has allowed
propagandists to dox people, incite violence, and perpetuate online
gender-based violence against women.
https://engagemedia.org/2023/myanmar-telegram-digital-rights/

13. Senegal Restricts Internet as Opposition Leader Formally Charged
Senegal has restricted access to internet services from Monday due to
the spread of “hateful messages” on social media, the country’s
communications minister said in a statement, as opposition leader
Ousmane Sonko is formally charged with fomenting an insurrection.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/7/31/senegal-restricts-internet-as-opposition-leader-formally-charged
14. Bridging the AI language Gap in Africa and Beyond

AI tools, from ChatGPT to Google Translate, are useless to billions of
people in the Global South who don't work in western languages.
Researchers and startups from Africa and other parts of the world are
changing that.

https://www.dw.com/en/bridging-the-ai-language-gap-in-africa-and-beyond/a-66331763

15. The USA’s Senate Panel Advances Bills to Childproof the Internet

Critics say there are still problems to work out before they’re ever made law.

https://www.theverge.com/2023/7/27/23809876/kosa-coppa-2-child-safety-privacy-protection-social-media

16. UNESCO Supports Twitter Space on Freedom of Expression & Content
Moderation in Kenya
Check out the findings from the discussion earlier this year that drew
around 250 participants, including members of the National Multi
Stakeholder Coalition on Freedom of Expression and Content Moderation
in Kenya, which was launched under the UNESCO "Social Media for Peace"
project in March 2023. The discussions further emphasized the
importance of holding technology companies accountable.
https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/unesco-supports-twitter-space-freedom-expression-and-content-moderation-kenya

_________________________________________________

### 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

#KeepItOn Advocacy Fellowship
Access Now
Deadline: August 4, 2023
https://accessnow.bamboohr.com/careers/190

Landecker Democracy Fellowship
Deadline: August 6, 2023
https://humanityinaction.org/landeckerdemocracyfellowship-apply/

Leading from the South
AWDF
Deadline: August 8, 2023
https://awdf.org/call-for-applications-leading-from-the-south/

Karibu New Realities Grant
Karibu
August 16, 2023
https://www.karibu.no/karibu-new-realities-grant/apply/

Data Futures Lab Infrastructure Fund
Mozilla
Deadline: August 31, 2023
https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/data-futures-lab/grantmaking/infrastructure-fund/

FOSS United
https://fossunited.org/grants

Digital Rights Research Grant
PrivacyCo
Deadline: Rolling
https://www.top10vpn.com/research-grant/

Sovereign Tech Fund
Deadline: Rolling
https://sovereigntechfund.de/en/applications/

Incident Emergency Fund
Digital Defenders Partnership
Deadline: Rolling Basis
https://www.digitaldefenders.org/incident-emergency-fund/

Safety Net Fund
Deadline: Ongoing
https://wphfund.org/whrds-safety-net/

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/

Urgent Action Fund - Asia & Pacific
Deadline: Rolling
https://www.uafanp.org/our_grants

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

### Events Calendar ###

Oxford Media Policy Summer Institute
July 31 - August 11, 2023
Oxford, USA
http://pcmlp.socleg.ox.ac.uk/oxford-media-policy-summer-institute-2023/

(The Wellbeing Monthly) Responding to Defeat and Creating Communities of Hope
Team CommUNITY
9am EDT / 1pm UTC
August 8, 2023
Online
https://digitalrights.formstack.com/forms/wellbeingmonthly3

Asia Meetup
Team CommUNITY
8am EDT / 12pm UTC
Online
https://wiki.digitalrights.community/index.php?title=August_9_2023,_Asia_Meetup

Freedom Not Fear
September 1- 4, 2023
Brussels
https://freedomnotfear.org

Virtual School on Internet Governance
September 4 - November 25, 2023
Online
https://www.virtualsig.org/2023/05/30/vsig-registration-now-open/

The Global Gathering
Team CommUNITY
September 15 - 17, 2023
Portugal
https://www.digitalrights.community/blog/announcing-team-communitys-global-gathering

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 sent to us 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 Officer | Syrian Center for Media & Freedom of Expression
+  Remote
https://buff.ly/3Dv33JQ

✎ Deputy General Counsel | Access Now
+  NYC, NY, USA
https://accessnow.bamboohr.com/careers/192?source=aWQ9MjA%3D

✎ Resilient IT Infrastructures Associate | The Engine Room
+  Remote
https://www.theengineroom.org/join-our-team-were-looking-for-a-resilient-it-infrastructures-associate/

✎ Finanzen & Buchhaltung (Accounting) | netzpolitik.org e.V.
+  Remote or Berlin, Germany
https://netzpolitik.org/stellenanzeige-wir-suchen-verstaerkung-bei-finanzen-buchhaltung/

✎ Geschäftsführung (CEO) | netzpolitik.org e.V.
+  Berlin, Germany
https://netzpolitik.org/stellenanzeige-wir-suchen-eine-geschaeftsfuehrung/

If you feel like sending some digital glitter our way, or need further
assistance, feel free to reply to this message.
_________________________________________________

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### Want to partner with us?###

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
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