Digital Rights Weekly | February 20-24

[Team CommUNITY]

Hello Digital Rights Defenders!

Here is your weekly update on digital rights around the world for the
week of February 20 - 24. As a reminder, you can submit your news for
the newsletter here:
https://www.digitalrights.community/weekly-newsletter

### Team CommUNITY (TCU) ###

1. Team CommUNITY (TCU)’s Global Gathering Will Take Place in Portugal
in September

Have you heard? Our Global Gathering will take place in Portugal in
September. This first instance is a soft launch, and will have a much
more decentralized format, focusing more on organic networking and
community building. Specifically, the gathering consists of three
parts:
La Feira, The Summit, and partner-lead satellite events.

Check out the new location, dates and ways to participate, and let us
know what you think! Note: we will be sending out the RSVP form for La
Feria very soon.

https://www.digitalrights.community/blog/announcing-team-communitys-global-gathering


2. Deadline is Approaching: Enroll in TCU’s Psychosocial Circles by March 2

Make sure to sign up for Team CommUNITY Spring psychosocial Circles by
March 2!  They include two Activist Fatigue Circles, and one Diaspora
support Circle. They are open to all digital rights defenders and are
free of charge.

https://www.digitalrights.community/blog/psychosocial-circles-spring-2023

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### Digital Rights in the Community ###

1. Freedom Not Fear Event: September 1 to 4 in Brussels

The Freedom not Fear (FnF) event will take place in Brussels on
September 1 - 4 2023. FnF takes you on a journey, from grassroots
discussions to collective actions at the European Parliament, to fight
for our freedoms and civil rights in a digitalised world. Join the
kick-off preparation meeting happening on March 1 at 19:00 CET. There
are a variety of tasks and roles to share!

https://freedomnotfear.org


2. New Reports from Across the Community Released This Week!!

This week we saw the release of seven reports authored by diverse
digital rights organizations. They include:

A. Digital Targeting of LGBT People in Middle East, North Africa

A new report by Human Rights Watch shares that government officials
across the Middle East and North Africa region are targeting LGBTQ+
people based on their online activity on social media, with security
forces using social media and dating applications to entrap
individuals. This is leading to LGBTQ+ people being subjected to
online extortion, online harassment, being outed, as well as
far-reaching offline consequences such as being arbitrarily detained.
Notably,
illegitimately obtained digital photos, chats, and similar information
is being used in prosecutions.

https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/02/21/middle-east-north-africa-digital-targeting-lgbt-people


B. Digital Security + Language: Reflections from 18 marginalized
Language Communities

Rising Voices, the digital inclusion arm of Global Voices, has
published research looking at the issues marginalized, minoritized, or
low resources languages face in regards to digital safety and
security. The research involved 18 study cases from Latin America,
Africa, and Asia. Languages examined include, among others, Yorùbá,
Odia, Wayuunaiki, and Zapotec language communities.

https://rising.globalvoices.org/digital-security-language/


C. Iranian Women Exemplary Proponents of Resistance in Hybrid Spaces

A new report by the European Center for Nonprofit Law looks at the
impact of Iran's digital governance and censorship on digital
assemblies. The report shows that Iranian women have been exemplary
proponents of resistance in hybrid physical-virtual spaces. As the
Iranian regime tightens its grip on internet freedom, Iranian
feminists have effectively used digital technologies to protest and
advocate online.

https://ecnl.org/publications/iran-digital-spaces-protest-and-control


D  UNESCO’s Digital Platform Regulation Guidelines Pose Risks for Free Speech

ARTICLE 19 has shared their serious concerns over UNESCO’s draft
Guidelines, which govern the regulation of digital platforms on
freedom of expression and human rights online. They are urging UNESCO
to reconsider its plan to formally adopt these guidelines and refrain
from encouraging their use by Member States wishing to adopt or amend
their regulations o digital platforms. These concerns were shared
ahead of UNESCO’s Internet for Trust Conference, which was held on
February 21-23, 2023.

https://www.article19.org/resources/unesco-digital-platform-regulation-guidelines-risks-free-speech/


E. Monetizing Misogyny by #ShePersisted

The Monetizing Misogyny research series explores how gendered
disinformation is weaponized to undermine women’s political
participation, and to weaken democratic institutions and human rights.
Crucially, it also looks at the responsibilities of digital platforms
and outlines the solutions needed to address this problem.

https://she-persisted.org/our-work/research-and-thought-leadership/


F. International Sign Translation of the State of the Internet Language Report

As a step in resisting digital colonialism, Internet Languages have
launched the #InternationalSign translation of the State of the
Internet’s Languages summary report. Their initiative recognizes that
hundreds of signed languages exist in the world  but the internet
remains unequal and its content is skewed towards European languages
and their written forms.

https://internetlanguages.org/en/international-sign/

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### Digital Rights Resources ###

1. How to Use the World's Largest Online Library of Secrets

Learn about Distributed Denial of Secrets (DDoSecrets), a group
publishing large datasets which come from either leaks or hacks. Most
of DDoSEcrets' datasets are available to the public for download via
peer-to-peer decentralized torrents.  Since launching in 2018,
DDoSecrets has published more than 100 terabytes of data that has
taught us about international money laundering, fascist organizing,
tax havens and the people who use them, military and police
corruption, surveillance and attacks against journalists and
activists, and much more.

https://wiki.digitalrights.community/index.php?title=January_26_2023_GM

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

1. Twitter Removing Text Message Two Factor Authentication for
Non-paying Accounts

Twitter is removing text-message two-factor authentication (2FA) for
non-subscribers, which provides a critical layer of security for
users. From March 20 on, only Twitter Blue subscribers will be able to
use text-message authentication.

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-64678260

Experts in the digital rights space believe this is a type of
blackmail that would allow hackers to run through password dumps more
effectively and put users at risk.

https://twitter.com/RonDeibert/status/1626888616398974977?s=20

Learn how to secure your account without having to pay for the Twitter
Blue privilege:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/02/22/twitter-2fa/

In addition, read a first person account about Elon's takeover of
Twitter, highlighting the harms that can flow from unchecked power in
tech.
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/02/elon-musk-twitter-ethics-algorithm-biases/673110/


2. Google Greenwashes a Dirty Partnership with Climate-Destroying Saudi Aramco

Google announced it was partnering with Saudi Aramco, one of human
history’s most prolific producers of oil and gas. The lucrative joint
venture will bring cloud computing services to Saudi Arabia through
the construction of a vast data center in Dammam.

https://theintercept.com/2023/02/17/google-cloud-saudi-aramco-oil/


3. How Two Supreme Court Battles Could Reshape the Rules of the
Internet in the US

Lawsuits brought by families of terrorist attack victims will consider
whether companies are responsible for users’ content. The cases could
drastically upend the rules of the internet, putting a powerful,
decades-old statute in the crosshairs. At stake is a question that has
been foundational to the rise of big tech: should companies be legally
responsible for the content their users post?

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/supreme-court-section-230-social-media-gonzalez-v-google/


4. US Supreme Court Turns Away Challenge to Warrantless Surveillance Program

The US Supreme Court declined to hear a constitutional challenge to a
secretive government surveillance program, dealing a setback to
privacy groups including the American Civil Liberties Union ahead of a
looming debate in Congress over whether to renew the law that
authorizes the intelligence tool.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/supreme-court-turns-away-challenge-to-nsa-surveillance-program-c983d1cd?mod=business_minor_pos4


5. Gender trolling” is Making Money for Digital Platforms

Online hate is driving women out of public life, putting democracy and
human rights at risk, and is a lucrative business for digital
platforms.

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/feb/17/gender-trolling-women-rights-money-digital-platforms-social-media-hate-politics

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### 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

Grant
Digital Freedom Fund
Deadline: February 28, 2023
https://digitalfreedomfund.org/grants/

Fellowship
Global Investigative Journalism Conference
Deadline: February 28, 2023
https://gijc2023.org/fellowships/

Internet of Rights Fellowship
Article 19
Deadline: March 3, 2023
https://www.article19.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Call-for-Applications-2023-IoR-Fellowship.pdf

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

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/

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

Secure Usability and Accessibility Lab
Open Tech Fund
Deadline: Rolling
https://www.opentech.fund/labs/sua-lab/
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### Events Calendar ###

MENA Monthly Meetup
10am EST / 3pm UTC
February 28, 2023
Online
https://wiki.digitalrights.community/index.php?title=February_28_2023,_MENA_Meetup

The Glitterest Glitter Meetup: TCU’s Global Gathering Q&A
9am EST / 2pm UTC
March 2, 2023
Online
https://wiki.digitalrights.community/index.php?title=March_2_2023_GM

Thoughtful Biometrics Workshop
March 16, 2023
Online
https://www.thoughtfulbiometrics.org/

LATAM Monthly Meetup
6:30pm EST / 11:30pm UTC
March 22, 2023
Online
https://wiki.digitalrights.community/index.php?title=22_de_Marzo,_2023_LATAM

DRIF23
April 12 to 14, 2023
Hybrid/Nairobi
https://whova.com/portal/registration/draif_202304/

RightsCon
Access Now
June 5 - 8, 2023
Hybrid
https://www.rightscon.org/attend/

7th Palestine Digital Activism Forum
7amleh
May 23-25, 2023
TBD
https://7amleh.org/2023/01/24/palestine-digital-activism-forum

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

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

✎ Senior Associate, Strategic Research and Insight | AWO
+ Remote or hybrid in UK, Belgium, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy or Netherlands
https://app.beapplied.com/apply/cspncedah2

✎ Finance and Operations Coordinator | Foundation International
Communications Hub
+ Remote in Spain
https://comms-hub.org/fin-coordinator

✎ Civic Freedoms and Human Rights Defenders Researcher and Database
Coordinator | Business & Human Rights Resource Centre
+ London, Berlin or Remote in the Global South
https://bhrrc.bamboohr.com/careers/46?source=aWQ9MTk%3D

✎ Policy Counsel/Senior Policy Counsel, Equity in Civic Technology |
The Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT)
+ Washington D.C., USA
https://cdt.org/job/policy-counsel-senior-policy-counsel-disability-rights-in-technology-policy/

✎ Senior Software Engineer, Abstract Wikipedia | Wikimedia Foundation
+ Remote
https://grnh.se/ff4aa4431us

✎ Manager, Federal Technology and Innovation | Partnership for Public Service
+ Washington, D.C., USA
https://workforcenow.adp.com/mascsr/default/mdf/recruitment/recruitment.html?cid=45713b53-21b1-4127-847f-73f3b4916607&ccId=19000101_000001&jobId=464077&lang=en_US&source=EN

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
Organizers of the Internet Freedom Festival
PGP: 2E1D CC33 A362 0BD6 236E  540A F60A 89AD 6FF9 7A2F

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