Digital Rights Weekly | March 6 - 10

Thu Mar 9 22:11:58 CET 2023

Hello Digital Rights Defenders!

Here is your weekly update on digital rights around the world for the
week of March 6 - 10. As a reminder, you can submit your news for the
newsletter here:
https://www.digitalrights.community/weekly-newsletter

### Team CommUNITY (TCU) ###

1. Apply for Team CommUNITY’s Feira @ the Global Gathering !!!

The Feira @ the Global Gathering (“Fair” in Portuguese) will be a
3-day social and networking festival for digital rights defenders,
hosted in an idyllic outdoor space in Estoril, Portugal. Feira
attendees can expect to recharge and reconnect alongside self
organized meetups and discussions, food, music, local vendors and a
splash of glitter and face paint. Apply before April 7!

https://www.digitalrights.community/blog/rsvp-feira-global-gathering

2. TCU ‘s Community Health Report 2022/2023 is Now Out!

We are happy to announce the release of Team CommUNITY’s (TCU) latest
Community Health Report 2022/2023 (CHR), which provides insights into
the urgent needs, trends, and observations of most prolific
conversations taking place in the digital rights community around the
globe. Find regional year-in-reviews from our Community Leads in
Africa, Asia, Latin America, and MENA, based on their work nurturing
community networks in their respective regions, observations from TCU
staff on the state of affairs in the digital rights ecosystem, and
more!

https://www.digitalrights.community/blog/announcing-the-community-health-report-20222023

3. February Regional Briefs are Out!

Every month, 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,
insights into emerging issues, community news, regional developments,
and more!

This month’s briefs features an interview with Ariel Koren, former
Google employee who was fired for protesting Project Nimbus - a $1.2
billion agreement between Google and Amazon to supply artificial
intelligence tools and other computing services to Israel and its
military.

In good news, Ola Bini was released, hopefully setting a precedent for
the safeguarding of online freedoms.

https://www.digitalrights.community/blog/regionalbriefsfebruary2023

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### Digital Rights in the Community ###

1. NASIG 2023 Happening on June 10th & 11th

The North American School of Internet Governance (NASIG) will be held
on June 10 - 11 in Washington DC. The school will provide a unique
opportunity for participants to learn from world-renowned Internet and
Internet Governance experts, with all proceedings presented and taught
in English. Find the fellowship application and registration here:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdST3GSV-nNF-8j7H9hO9ZDCaWMHJylM-oo9Z1VSpzUORhoig/viewform?usp=sf_link

2. Advocacy Evaluation Workshop in Mexico City

Check out this advocacy workshop offered by New Tactics in Human
Rights (a program of the Center for Victims of Torture). Who should
apply? Staff of human rights-based civil society organizations based
in Latin America who are interested in learning how to plan effective
and ethical evaluations of their advocacy campaigns. The workshop will
be conducted in Spanish. Deadline to Apply: March 31, 2023. Workshop
dates: May 29 - June 1 2023.

https://www.newtactics.org/taller-de-evaluaci%C3%B3n-de-la-incidencia

3. MozFest 2023 Sessions in Spanish

¿Hablas español? Un buen número de las sesiones de MozFest 2023
también. Tenemos sesiones interactivas, talleres, charlas relámpago,
canales en Slack y más. Aquí un abreboca de lo que traen las
comunidades hispanohablantes del Festival de Mozilla:

https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/blog/estas-son-las-sesiones-que-estar%C3%A1n-hablando-espa%C3%B1ol-en-mozfest-2023/

4. Call for Proposals: National Media Defence Centre Indo-Pacific Region

In partnership with the International Center for Non-Profit Law, Media
Defence is calling for proposals from NGOs and law centers based in
countries in the Indo-Pacific region for a grant to provide legal
support to journalists and strategic litigation on media freedom.
Deadline: 31 March.

https://www.mediadefence.org/news/special-call-grant-indo-pacific/

4. Iraq: Authorities must Cease their Chilling Crackdown on Free Speech

ARTICLE19 and other digital rights organizations express their deepest
concern regarding the Iraqi authorities’ recent campaign to crack down
on ‘indecent content’ online. This crackdown has a chilling effect and
will stifle free speech in the country. Read their full statement
here:

https://www.article19.org/resources/iraq-authorities-crackdown-free-speech/

5. Check Out Winden: Private, Secure, and Fast Data Transfer

Winden, by Least Authority, is the private and secure way to send
files at speed. Winden is identity-free, meaning that senders and
receivers don’t need to know each other’s identity to use it. All
files are end-to-end encrypted, ensuring that only the sender and
receiver can see the content. Since files are sent ephemerally from
the sender to the receiver, they are never stored on our servers.
Winden is available to try as a free beta version.

https://winden.app

6. New Reports from Our Community!

a) A More Inclusive Internet for Who? Non-English Speakers in Digital Spaces

Check out the report from Pollicy, in partnership with Digital Futures
Lab, Design Beku, with the support of Internet Society Foundation on
the experiences that non-English speakers face online. With more than
5 billion people today being online or on digital platforms of some
form, the language available and used online is important. Despite
there being over 7,000 spoken languages worldwide, Unicode — the
standard for text and emoticons — only supports approximately 150.
This expanding digital divide is a result of uneven digital
development and long lasting legacies of colonialism.

https://pollicy.medium.com/a-more-inclusive-internet-for-who-non-english-speakers-in-digital-spaces-ea85809bf780

b) OONI Measurements Show Ongoing Internet Censorship in Azerbaijan

How has Azerbaijan’s internet censorship landscape changed (if at all)
over the last year? OONI tried to respond to this question and
analyzed data collected from Azerbaijan between January 2022 to
February 2023 with the goal of evaluating which tested services
presented signs of blocking, and whether new blocks had emerged over
the past year.

https://ooni.org/post/2023-azerbaijan-internet-censorship/

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### Digital Rights Resources ###

1. Coded Resistance, the Comic about Black Communities Combate Against
Surveillance

A new comic by EFF looks at the ways in which black communities have
combated surveillance. In collaboration with The Nib and illustrator
Chelsea Saunders, EFF adapted "Coded Resistance" into comic form to
further explore the stories of slave revolts, the coded songs of
Harriet Tubman, civil rights era strategies for circumventing "Ma
Bell," and the use of modern day technology to document police abuse.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/02/coded-resistance-comic

2. VPNs: Steps Towards Trusted VPNs

This guide from The Guardian Project outlines the basics of VPNs and
the steps to take to find a trusted VPN, depending on your own
concerns.

https://guardianproject.info/2023/02/28/steps-towards-trusted-vpns/

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

1. My Data Rights Africa: Showing Up for Those Who Go Out on a Limb

It is incredibly paramount to show up and support feminist movements
that go out on a limb to continually push the needle and claim spaces,
take action, and create change. One of the ways to do so is to share
resources and tools that safeguard and sustain hope for this great
work toward gender equality in technology.

https://mydatarights.africa/showing-up-for-those-who-go-out-on-a-limb/

This month in IFEX's Americas brief for International Women's Day,
Laura Vidal spoke to Catalina Moreno Arocha from Fundación Karisma
about the fight for safer online spaces for women in Colombia.

https://ifex.org/preventing-digital-violence-against-women-in-colombia-political-prisoners-released-in-nicaragua-and-apology-of-terrorism-criminalised-in-peru/

Digital rights are women’s rights. Check out the opening statement to
the Commission on the Status of Women at its 67th session, by Ms. Sima
Bahous, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women

https://www.unwomen.org/en/news-stories/statement/2023/03/csw67-opening-statement-digital-rights-are-womens-rights

2. Meta’s Paid Verification Plan Will Push More Users to the Margins

Last Sunday, Meta quietly debuted “Meta Verified,” a pilot plan that
will offer Facebook and Instagram users a bundle of services alongside
the coveted blue checkmark indicating that you are the “real” you.
Wanna get verified? Just hand over a monthly fee of $11.99 on desktop
and $14.99 on mobile and send in a copy of your state-issued ID that
matches the name on your account.

This is a corporatized, unsurprising turn for the company, no doubt
facilitated by Twitter’s bungled moves in the same direction. If it
takes hold, it will create a two-tiered system, like a class
hierarchy, that will likely push marginalized voices on the platforms
further to their edges or knock them off altogether.

https://www.codastory.com/newsletters/meta-verification-plan/

3. Recognising Sexual and Gender Based-Violence As An Open Source Researcher

Open source methods are increasingly used to document and report on
conflicts around the world. From verifying secretive troop movements
to identifying potential war crimes, open source investigations have
often been the first to uncover important developments. Yet one aspect
of this emerging field that remains ethically complex and practically
challenging for researchers is sexual and gender-based violence
(SGBV).

https://www.bellingcat.com/uncategorized/2023/03/03/sexual-and-gender-based-violence-open-source-researche-osint-digital/

4. The Right Is Big Mad at Big Tech But Can’t Quite Figure Out Why

The MAGA Movement still had Big Tech in its sights at CPAC 2023 — but
they aren’t sure how or when to pull the trigger, or if the gun is
even loaded. The ultra-conservative conference has long been captured
by Donald Trump, serving as a perennial opportunity for the
president’s ramblings and personal quibbles to become urgent
initiatives for his followers.

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/cpac-2023-maga-war-big-tech-lacks-direction-1234691376/

5. Twitter insiders: We Can't Protect Users From Trolling Under Musk

Twitter insiders have told the BBC that the company is no longer able
to protect users from trolling, state-co-ordinated disinformation and
child sexual exploitation, following lay-offs and changes under owner
Elon Musk.

Exclusive academic data plus testimony from Twitter users backs up
their allegations, suggesting hate is thriving under Mr Musk's
leadership, with trolls emboldened, harassment intensifying and a
spike in accounts following misogynistic and abusive profiles.

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-64804007

6. Suspicion Machines - Experiment on Welfare Surveillance Algorithm
Reveals Discrimination

Lighthouse Reports found discrimination in the welfare surveillance
algorithm. Fraud detection systems are widely deployed in welfare
states ranging from complex machine learning models to crude
spreadsheets. The scores they generate have potentially life-changing
consequences for millions of people. Until now, public authorities
have typically resisted calls for transparency, either by claiming
that disclosure would increase the risk of fraud or to protect
proprietary technology.

https://www.lighthousereports.com/investigation/suspicion-machines/

7. Mexico’s Armed Forces’ Spying Brings Fears of a “Military State”

The New York Times released a report showing a paper trail proving
that the Mexican military have used Pegasus to spy on citizens who
were trying to expose its misdeeds.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/07/world/americas/mexico-military-surveillance.html

8. Kenya tries Again to Digitally Register All Residents

A year after Kenya’s digital identity program was declared illegal,
the Kenyan government is going to try again. The decision by the
cabinet secretary for the Ministry of Information accompanied plans to
digitize 5,000 government services and make them available on a common
online platform in 2023.

https://news-decoder.com/kenya-tries-again-to-digitally-register-all-residents/

9. UAE Unblocks Several Qatar News Sites as Ties Between Two Nations Warm

Several Qatari-owned news websites had been inaccessible to UAE
residents since relations worsened in 2016 over Doha's support for the
Muslim Brotherhood, but at least four are now unblocked.

https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2023/03/uae-unblocks-several-qatar-news-sites-ties-between-two-nations-warm

10. Al-Jazeera: Twitter Under Fire for Censoring Palestinian Public Figures

Hear digital rights activists talking about how Meta and Twitter have
restricted, suspended the accounts of Palestinian journalists and
activists.

https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2023/2/28/twitter-under-fire-for-censuring-palestinian-public-figures

11. Indian Government Moves to Remedy Its Violation of Children’s Privacy

This week, the Indian government announced a third-party security
audit of Diksha, the educational app it owns and uses to provide
online education to students in grades 1 to 12. The government also
committed to better protect the data privacy of children and teachers
using its app. Government Learning App previously had exposed
children’s personal data.

https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/02/28/indian-government-moves-remedy-its-violation-childrens-privacy

12. Young People in 13 EU Countries Refuse Surveillance of Online Communication

According to the results of the survey, 80% of young people aged 13 to
17 years old from 13 EU Member States would not feel comfortable being
politically active or exploring their sexuality if authorities were
able to monitor their digital communication, in order to look for
child sexual abuse.

https://edri.org/our-work/press-release-poll-youth-in-13-eu-countries-refuse-surveillance-of-online-communication/

13. “Horribly Unethical”: Startup Experimented on Suicidal Teens on
Social Media with Chatbot

Koko, a mental health nonprofit, found at-risk teens on platforms like
Facebook and Tumblr, then tested an unproven intervention on them
without obtaining informed consent.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/5d9m3a/horribly-unethical-startup-experimented-on-suicidal-teens-on-facebook-tumblr-with-chatbot

14. What is the USA’s Section 230 and Why Should I Care About It?

In the case of Gonzalez v. Google, which was heard by the US’s Supreme
Court last week, the question before the Court is whether or not
service providers should be held liable for third-parties’ content on
their platforms in cases where providers are using software tools
(“algorithms”) to organize and present content to its users. Since the
1990s, Section 230 has protected providers—and individuals—from
significant legal liability for illegal content posted online by other
people. Depending on the outcome of this case, the Court could change
Section 230 and limit what it protects, which could have grave
consequences on how we all use the Internet. Read what Section 230 is
about and what its significance is.

https://www.internetsociety.org/blog/2023/02/what-is-section-230-and-why-should-i-care-about-it/

_________________________________________________

### 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

The Calyx Institute
Fusion Center Microgrants Fund
Deadline: March 17, 2021
https://calyxinstitute.org/projects/microgrants-and-small-project-support/fusion-center-fund-2023

National Media Defence Centre Indo-Pacific Region
International Center for Non-Profit Law & Media Defence
Deadline: March 31, 2023
https://www.mediadefence.org/news/special-call-grant-indo-pacific/

Omidyar Network
Responsible Technology Youth Power Fund
Deadline: April 1st, 2023
https://bit.ly/3I9Y3NR

Digital Good Network
Digital Good Research Fund
Deadline: April 28, 2023
https://digitalgood.net

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/

_________________________________________________

### Events Calendar ###

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

Glitter Meetup: SocorroBot, a chatbot guiding people reporting a
missing person in México
9am EDT / 1pm UTC
March 16, 2023
Online
https://wiki.digitalrights.community/index.php?title=March_16_2023_GM

LATAM Monthly Meetup
6:30pm EST / 10:30pm UTC
March 22, 2023
Online
https://wiki.digitalrights.community/index.php?title=22_de_Marzo,_2023_LATAM

Glitter Meetup: TCU’s 2023 Community Health Report Q&A
9am EST / 1pm UTC
March 23, 2023
Online
https://wiki.digitalrights.community/index.php?title=March_23_2023_GM

Asia Monthly Meetup
11am EDT / 3pm UTC
March 24, 2023
Online
https://wiki.digitalrights.community/index.php?title=March_24_2023,_Asia_Meetup

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

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

Advocacy Evaluation Workshop
Center for Victims of Torture
May 29 - June 1, 2023
Mexico City
https://www.newtactics.org/e2a-upcoming-training-opportunities

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

North American School of Internet Governance
June 10 - 11, 2023
Washington DC, USA
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdST3GSV-nNF-8j7H9hO9ZDCaWMHJylM-oo9Z1VSpzUORhoig/viewform

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 Research Associate | The Engine Room
+ Remote
https://the-engine-room.breezy.hr/p/1956be1973ef01-senior-research-associate

✎ GACC Program Assistant | The Organized Crime and Corruption
Reporting Project (OCCRP)
+ Remote
https://www.occrp.org/en/occrp-jobs/gacc-program-assistant

✎ People and Culture Manager | Association for Progressive Communications
+ Remote
https://www.apc.org/en/node/38526/

✎ Senior Research Associate | The Engine Room
+ Remote
https://www.theengineroom.org/join-our-team-senior-research-associate/

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

### Know someone that wants to subscribe to our newsletter? ###

They can sign up here:
https://www.digitalrights.community/weekly-newsletter

### 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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