Digital Rights Weekly | May 1 - 5

Mon May 8 15:06:14 CEST 2023

Hello Digital Rights Defenders!

Here is your weekly update on digital rights around the world for the week of

As a reminder, you can submit your news for the newsletter here:
https://www.digitalrights.community/weekly-newsletter

### Team CommUNITY (TCU) ###

1. Check out our NEW toolkit: Mental Health Primer for Providers
Serving Digital Rights Defenders

We are happy to share the first ever educational toolkit designed for
psychosocial providers and/or mental health professionals serving or
wanting to serve digital rights defenders (DRDs). It gives insights
that can help reduce the barriers and gaps DRDs experience when
seeking psychosocial support and services, and help mental health
providers improve the care they offer.

We want to thank the various Digital Rights Defenders who have been
asking for the creation of this primer for years. We are super
grateful for their commitment to advocate for their fellow DRDs!

https://www.digitalrights.community/blog/new-toolkit-for-psychosocial-providers-serving-digital-rights-defenders

2. NEW April Digital Rights 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,
community news, regional developments, and more!

In this occasion, you will learn about the Digital rights challenges
in Ecuador and Ola Bini's case: despite being declared innocent, the
cybersecurity expert still faces hard legal restrictions in the
country. You will also find out that new directives in Zambia are
requiring users’ photographs to get a Sim Card and how advocacy and
strategic litigation groups are designing favorable Digital Justice
spaces in Africa as a response. From Asia, we covered how TikTok is
impacting elections in Southeast Asia, specifically in Thailand,
Malaysia and the Philippines. In addition, you will learn about the
UN’s dangerous Cybercrime Convention negotiations amid abuse of
cybercrime laws in Tunisia, how the country uses these laws to silence
dissent, and the impact in the MENA region.

https://www.digitalrights.community/blog/regionalbriefsapril2023

3. RSVP Soon for our June Village: Digital Rights Perspectives from
the South - interactive discussions about Asia, Africa, LATAM and MENA

Are you interested in learning about how emerging issues in digital
rights uniquely show up in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle
East and North Africa? Do you want to hear about what digital rights
defenders in each region are experiencing, what challenges they are
facing, and what's on their mind?

Join us for our upcoming village, “Digital Rights Perspectives from
the South,” which will run from June 6 to 14. The Village will feature
five virtual interactive sessions led by TCU’s four Community Leads,
and will incorporate their learnings from the last 18 months doing
community building and research in their respective regions. Bring
your questions and comments!

Jun 6: Latin America with Úrsula Schüler
Jun 7: Middle East and North Africa (MENA) with Islam Al Khatib
Jun 8: Asia with Astha Rajvanshi
Jun 13: Africa with Mardiya Siba Yahaya
Jun 14:  Commonalities between regions and global trends with Danae
Tapia and Úrsula Schüler

Check the full descriptions and RSVP on this link:
https://www.digitalrights.community/blog/digital-rights-perspectives-from-the-south

4. RSVP for our Event Series for Job Seekers Looking to Break into
Digital Rights, Internet Freedom

This May we will be hosting the “Welcome to Digital Rights Village”
featuring diverse professionals talking about their personal career
paths in digital rights and Internet Freedom. Check the amazing line
up of sessions and speakers:

May 16: Overview of the Digital Rights Landscape for Career Seekers
with Danae Tapia and Sandra Ordonez
May 17: A Career in Policy Advocacy with Ayden Férdeline, Landecker
Democracy Fellow
May 18: A Career in Tech Tool Making with Giovanni Pellerano,
Co-founder of GlobaLeaks
May 23: A Career in Public Interest Technology with Daniel Kahn
Gillmor, ACLU’s Senior Staff Technologist
May 24: A Career in Grassroots to International Nonprofits in Digital
Rights with Nathaly Espitia Diaz, Program Officer for South America at
Internews
May 25: A Career in Technology Research in Digital Rights with Natasha
Felizi, Journalism and Media Director at Instituto Serrapilheira

RSVP SOON on the link below! Also, this is a great event-series to
send to any folks you may know looking to start a career in digital
rights and/or Internet Freedom.

https://www.digitalrights.community/blog/welcome-to-the-digital-rights-village

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### Digital Rights in the Community ###

1. Submit to AI & Equality’s Online Collection

AI & Equality is creating an online collection to bring together ideas
from their diverse community of disciplines and perspectives. The aim
is to provide an outlet to produce and share work that furthers the
shared goals of a human-rights based and feminist-framed AI world. AI
& Equality is now open for blog posts, think-pieces, articles, and
academic essays for their first Community Publication: Re-Visions of
Now & Future. Deadline for Submission: May 20, 2023. The final
publication will be included at the AI & Equality Conference in July.

https://community.aiequalitytoolbox.com/home

2. ICRC: Symposium on Cybersecurity & Data Protection in Humanitarian Action

As 2023 marches ahead, the ICRC is again looking at how humanitarian
action is impacted by the introduction and uses of technology. ICRC is
launching a call for briefing papers for the 2024 Symposium on
Cybersecurity and Data Protection in Humanitarian Action in
Luxembourg, which is tentatively scheduled for 23-25 January 2024 in
Luxembourg. Abstracts are due on May 29, 2023.

https://www.icrc.org/en/digitharium/2024-symposium-call-for-papers

3. The Africa Digital Rights Fund

The Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern
Africa (CIPESA) is calling for proposals to support digital rights
work across Africa. Grant amounts available range between $1,000 and
$10,000, depending on the need and scope of the proposed intervention.
Cost-sharing is strongly encouraged and the grant period should not
exceed six months. Applications will be accepted until May 5, 2023.

https://cipesa.org/2023/04/apply-to-the-latest-round-of-the-africa-digital-rights-fund-adrf/

4. Sudan: Internet Shutdowns Fuel Human Rights Abuses

Internet in Sudan continues to be shut down intermittently amid armed
clashes between the Sudanese army, led by Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, and
the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), currently headed by Muhammad Hamdan
Dagalo (Hemedti). On April 18, MTN Sudan shut down the internet for
hours at the request of the government’s Telecommunications Regulatory
Authority at the start of the conflict. After the truce collapsed a
few days later, the country faced near-total internet blackouts as the
fighting between the military and the Rapid Support Forces
intensified. More internet shutdowns have occurred since then.

During armed conflict, internet shutdowns endanger the safety of
civilians, restrict access to emergency services, and prohibit people
from contacting their families and loved ones. This harmful practice
also restricts freedom of expression and enables armed forces to
conceal human rights violations and crimes against humanity.

SMEX is calling to voice the demands to the Sudanese authorities to
stop internet shutdowns at all costs, especially during national
events such as armed clashes, protests, and exams. Use the hashtags
#NoInternetShutdown and #KeepItOn, and demand government institutions
keep the internet on, especially in times of crisis.

In Arabic: https://smex.org/ar/لا_قطع_اتصالات-السودان-تعتيم-انتهاكات/
In English: https://smex.org/sudan-internet-shutdowns-fuel-human-rights-abuses/

5. Press Freedom Day’ Initiatives this May 3rd:

a) Open Letter: Protect Our Rights to Privacy, Free Expression, and
Press Freedom

On World Press Freedom Day, a global network of over 40 organizations
have united to defend the right to privacy. They are writing this open
letter to urgently appeal to governments to publicly pledge their
support to protect encryption and ensure a free and open Internet.
Encryption is a critical tool for user privacy, data security, safety
online, press freedom, self determination, and free expression.

https://www.fightforthefuture.org/news/2023-05-03-open-letter-protect-our-rights-to-privacy-free-expression-and-press-freedom/

b) Abusive Spyware Ban: No Press Freedom Without Journalist Safety

Every year on May 3, World Press Freedom Day, the international
community, media organizations, civil society, and people from all
walks of life celebrate the fundamental principles of press freedom,
evaluate freedom of expression across the globe, pay tribute to
journalists who have lost their lives in the exercise of their
profession, and commit to defending media independence. This year, the
international community must address invasive surveillance technology
and its impact on expression, censorship, and personal safety.
Spyware is a weapon designed to attack press freedom and civic space.
It’s time to take away the ammunition.

https://techpolicy.press/abusive-spyware-ban-no-press-freedom-without-journalist-safety//

6. Reports from Our Community:

a) Amnesty International: Israeli Authorities are Using Facial
Recognition Technology to Entrench Apartheid

The Israeli authorities are using an experimental facial recognition
system known as Red Wolf to track Palestinians and automate harsh
restrictions on their freedom of movement, Amnesty International said
today. In a new report, Automated Apartheid, the organization
documents how Red Wolf is part of an ever-growing surveillance network
which is entrenching the Israeli government’s control over
Palestinians, and which helps to maintain Israel’s system of
apartheid.

https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde15/6701/2023/en/

b) “Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research” explains the
importance of semiconductors and the USA efforts to hinder development
of China's industry

In this brief, “Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research”
analyzes the impact of the United States government implementing
export controls to hinder the development of China’s semiconductor
industry. An expert on the subject told the Financial Times, ‘The
whole point of the policy is to kneecap China’s AI and High
Performance Computing efforts’. Check the report of Tricontinental and
“No Cold War”' which also explains the vitality of semiconductors in
the link below.

https://thetricontinental.org/newsletterissue/semiconductor-chips/

c) Sign of the Times: The Information that Tripolitans Need to Survive

Despite relying heavily on social media for information, Tripoli’s
populations do not all have equal access to online platforms. Indeed,
life became much more complex to navigate for those who couldn’t
afford to access information due to raging inflation and increased
telecommunication prices. This research probed how social media was
being used by refugee and host communities to access critical goods,
resources and information.

https://www.lse.ac.uk/geography-and-environment/research/social-media-and-crisis-of-urban-inequality-blog/sign-of-the-times

d) No Minor Futures’ Teen Spirit & Young Influencers

How are digital technologies affecting youth globally? In what ways do
they experience and envision the harms and benefits of artificial
intelligence (AI)? How can we create digital futures that truly serve
and respect younger generations? Learn about how young people
experience AI in their own words in this piece titled No Minor
Futures' Teen Spirit and Young Influencers.

https://globalvoices.org/2023/03/23/how-young-people-around-the-world-experience-ai-in-their-own-words/

___________________________

### Digital Rights Resources ###

Infusing Digital Responsibility Into Your Organization

As societal expectations grow for the responsible use of digital
technologies, organizations that promote better practices will have a
distinct advantage. Strengthening your organization’s digital
responsibility can drive value creation, and brands regarded as more
responsible will enjoy higher levels of stakeholder trust and loyalty.

https://hbr.org/2023/04/infusing-digital-responsibility-into-your-organization

_________________________________________________

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

1. Dominican Republic: Pegasus Spyware Discovered on Prominent
Journalist’s Phone

In the first confirmed case in the country, a high-profile woman
journalist in the Dominican Republic has been targeted with NSO
Group’s Pegasus spyware.

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/05/dominican-republic-pegasus-spyware-journalists-phone/

2. Facebook, Youtube and TikTok Content Moderators in Kenya Form Labour Union

At a meeting held in Nairobi this week, 200 content moderators from
Sama and Majorel -- the firms that serve Facebook, Youtube, TikTok and
Chat GPT -- took a stand against tech giants’ mistreatment of their
workers by coming together to lobby for their rights. Kenya-based
content moderators working for these Big Tech companies have
established a labor union to push for better working conditions.

https://nation.africa/kenya/business/technology/facebook-youtube-and-tiktok-content-moderators-in-kenya-form-labour-union-4219046

3. Tunisia’s Digitization Programs Threaten the Privacy of Millions

Over the last several months, the Tunisian government has been
advancing three major digitization programs that are aimed at
facilitating people’s access to government services, but in fact
threaten the privacy, personal data protection, and digital security
of millions. All three — the Biometric ID project, the Mobile ID
program, and the subsidies’ compensation platform — have been
developed without sufficient transparency or civil society input.

https://www.accessnow.org/tunisias-digitization-programs-threaten-the-privacy-of-millions/

4. Twitter Fulfilling More Government Censorship Requests Under Musk

Twitter’s self-reported data showed that the company complied at least
partially with almost every government request to take down content
after Elon Musk, a self-described free speech absolutist, took over
the platform.

The company fully or partially complied with 98.8 percent of takedown
requests it received from October 27, the date of Musk’s takeover, to
April 13, including hundreds of requests from Turkey and India, which
have faced criticism for silencing critics.

https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2023/5/2/twitter-fulfilling-more-government-censorship-requests-under-musk

5. AI 'godfather' Geoffrey Hinton Warns of Dangers

A man widely seen as the “godfather” of artificial intelligence (AI)
has quit his job, warning about the growing dangers from developments
in the field. Geoffrey Hinton, 75, announced his resignation from
Google in a statement to the New York Times, saying he now regretted
his work. He told the BBC some of the dangers of AI chatbots were
"quite scary".

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65452940

6. Advocates are saying that Hinton should have spoken up sooner.
Hopefully, Hinton’s warnings about the technology’s potential harms
will persuade other researchers to come forward.

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2023-05-02/ai-godfather-geoffrey-hinton-should-have-spoken-up-sooner

7. Opinion: We Need to Bring Consent to AI

Last week, OpenAI announced it is launching an “incognito” mode that
does not save users’ conversation history or use it to improve its AI
language model ChatGPT. The new feature lets users switch off chat
history and training and allows them to export their data. This is a
welcome move in giving people more control over how their data is used
by a technology company.
OpenAI’s decision to allow people to opt out comes as the firm is
under increasing pressure from European data protection regulators
over how it uses and collects data.

https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/05/02/1072556/we-need-to-bring-consent-to-ai/

8. China’s Internet Censor Closed 4,000 Websites and Removed 55 Apps in 3 months

China’s internet watchdog shut down more than 4,200 sites and removed
55 apps from app stores for various breaches, including providing
unauthorized news services, in the first quarter of the year alone.
The Cyberspace Administration of China said in a statement on Sunday
it had also summoned people in charge of more than 2,200 websites and
told them to rectify their content.

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3219119/just-3-months-chinas-internet-censor-has-closed-over-4000-websites-and-removed-55-apps

In addition to this censorship being a violation of human rights,
China’s AI upstarts face an uphill climb trying to balance improving
their product with keeping tight control on what it actually says.
These AI systems are by design creative and experimental, and there’s
only so much companies can do to filter out sensitive keywords or
topics of discussion — or train their models to speak only positively
of the country’s leaders. Persistent users may still find ways to
bypass that basic programming, and the country’s internet regulator
has already signaled that it will pin much of the responsibility for
preventing that on the platform providers.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2023-05-02/china-s-chatgpt-answers-raise-questions-about-censoring-generative-ai

9. Google Sues CryptBot Slingers, Gets Court Order to Shut Down Malware Domains

Google said it obtained a court order to shut down domains used to
distribute CryptBot after suing the distributors of the info-stealing
malware. According to the Chocolate Factory's estimates, the software
infected about 670,000 Windows computers in the past year, and
specifically targeted Chrome users to pilfer login details, browser
cookies, cryptocurrencies, and other sensitive materials from their
PCs.
https://www.theregister.com/2023/04/27/google_cryptbot_shutdown/

10. Abortion Rights, Privacy Activists Push for California Ban on
“Digital Dragnet” Warrants

Dobbs has also caused many activists and legislators in California to
re-evaluate the potential threats to digital privacy as they pertain
to reproductive health and abortion-related care. For a California
State Legislature, the decision pushed her to introduce a state bill,
known as AB 793, which would ban the controversial and novel practice
of so-called “reverse keyword” and “geofence” warrants. These warrants
allow investigators to cast a very wide net, grab a bunch of data —
most often from Google — and then narrow it down to find a suspect.
These practices are referred to as “Digital Dragnets”.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/cyrusfarivar/2023/05/02/abortion-rights-privacy-activists-push-for-california-ban-on-digital-dragnet-warrants/?sh=7fabe83cbfc6

_________________________________________________

### 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 Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern
Africa (CIPESA)
Africa Digital Rights Fund
Deadline: May 5, 2023
https://cipesa.org/2023/04/apply-to-the-latest-round-of-the-africa-digital-rights-fund-adrf/

Indela in Panama
Deadline: May 15, 2023
https://indela.fund/indela-panama/

Strategic Litigation to Advance Digital Rights in Europe Support
Digital Freedom Fund
Deadline: July 20, 2023
https://digitalfreedomfund.org/grants/

Lacuna Fund
Deadline: Multiple Depending on Topic
https://lacunafund.org/apply/

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/

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 ###

How is Generative AI Changing the Landscape of AI Harms?
Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University
May 8, 2023
1-1:30pm ET
Berkman Center
https://cyber.harvard.edu/events/how-generative-ai-changing-landscape-ai-harms

Glitter Meetup: Digital Rights in Brazil and the Platform Regulation
Bill Focused on Content Moderation
Team CommUNITY
May 11, 2023
9am EDT / 1pm UTC
Online
https://wiki.digitalrights.community/index.php?title=May_11_2023_GM

Welcome to Digital Rights Village
Team CommUNITY
May 16 - 25, 2023
Online
https://digitalrights.formstack.com/forms/welcometodigitalrights

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

LATAM Monthly Meetup
Team CommUNITY
May 24, 2023
6:30pm EDT / 10:30pm UTC
Online
https://wiki.digitalrights.community/index.php?title=24_de_Mayo,_2023_LATAM

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

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

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

✎ Subgrants coordinator for the Safety for Voices project |
Association for Progressive Communications
+ Remote
https://www.apc.org/en/news/job-call-apc-looking-subgrants-coordinator-safety-voices-project

✎ Finance and administration coordinator for the Safety for Voices
project | Association for Progressive Communications
+ Remote
https://www.apc.org/en/news/job-call-apc-looking-finance-and-administration-coordinator-safety-voices-project

✎ OONI Project Manager | Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI)
+ Remote
https://ooni.org/post/2023-job-opening-ooni-project-manager/

✎ Senior Digital Security Trainer | Freedom of the Press Foundation
+ New York City or Remote in USA
http://grnh.se/45bc9e975us

✎ Chief Executive Officer | Videre est Credere
+ Remote
https://videre.breezy.hr/p/3d00071be83501-videre-est-credere-chief-executive-officer

✎ Advocacy Department Manager | 7amleh
+ Remote or in Palestine
https://7amleh.org/2023/05/01/job-opportunity-7amleh-is-looking-for-advocacy-department-manager

✎ Operations Coordinator, Fiscal Sponsorship Program | Code for
Science & Society
+ Remote
https://grnh.se/6ae7d0eb7us

✎ Senior Systems Administrator | The Center for Victims of Torture
+ Minneapolis/St Paul, Minnesota, USA
http://cvt.simplicant.com/jobs/48244-senior-systems-administrator/detail

✎ Senior Site Reliability Engineer (Database) | Wikimedia Foundation
+ Remote
https://grnh.se/ed622ab81us

✎ Sr. Fluxx Operations Manager | Internet Society Foundation
+ Remote
https://internetsociety.bamboohr.com/careers/220

✎ Public Interest Technology Director | Electronic Frontier Foundation
+ Remote within the USA
https://eff.bamboohr.com/careers/115

✎ Research Data Analyst | Invest in Open Infrastructure
+ Remote
http://investinopen.org/jobs/#researchdataanalyst

✎ Engagement Coordinator, Infrastructure | Invest in Open Infrastructure
+ Remote
http://investinopen.org/jobs/#engagementcoordinatorinfrastructure

✎ Product Lead | Invest in Open Infrastructure
+ Remote
http://investinopen.org/jobs/#productlead

✎ Senior Site Reliability Engineer (Data Engineering) | Wikimedia Foundation
+ Remote
https://grnh.se/6f7f43551us

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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