Digital Rights Weekly | May 8 - 12

[Team CommUNITY]

Hello Digital Rights Defenders!

Here is your weekly update on digital rights around the world for the
week of May 8 - 12. As a reminder, you can submit your news for the
newsletter here: https://www.digitalrights.community/weekly-newsletter

### Team CommUNITY (TCU) ###

1. Global Gathering Feira Applications

Given the number of people that are continuing to reach out to us
about applying for the Feira at the Global Gathering, we will be
accepting applications through June 15th, 2023. The extended deadline
will allow us to review our capacity and examine if we are able to
increase the event cap and will allow us to ensure we have more equal
participation reflecting the diversity of the digital rights
community.

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


2.


2. 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


3. Check our 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.

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


4. 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!

For April,  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

_________________________________________________

### Digital Rights in the Community ###


1. Grants from the Urgent Action Fund - Asia & Pacific

Calling all Pacific feminists & human rights defenders who need urgent
financial support to sustain their activism & ensure their safety to
apply for our Rapid Response Grants!

https://www.uafanp.org/our_grants


2. Battle for Libraries

The nonprofit Internet Archive is appealing a judgment that threatens
the future of all libraries. Big publishers are suing to cut off
libraries’ ownership and control of digital books, opening new paths
for censorship. Join 25,000+ signers on their petition to show your
support for the Internet Archive, libraries’ digital rights, and an
open internet with uncensored access to knowledge.

https://www.battleforlibraries.com


3. Sign up to Digital Defenders Partnership's New Introductory Online Course!

Check out the introductory course on Forensics of Mobile Devices,
Identification of Spyware and Documentation of Digital Threats with a
Human Rights and Gender Perspective.

This is an introductory course planned for a diversity of profiles
such as rapid responders, digital security trainers, incident handlers
for digital security help desks or feminist helplines or tech-savvy
activists who want to better understand how they can analyze digital
threats. Deadline to sign up: June 4.


https://www.digitaldefenders.org/introduction-to-forensics-of-mobile-devices-identification-of-spyware-and-documentation-of-digital-threats-with-a-human-rights-and-gender-perspective/


4. Authorities in India: New Amendment to the Information Technology
Rules That Threatens Press Freedoms Must be Withdrawn

A number of civil society organizations are sounding the alarm on the
further expansion of government control over online content through
the draconian Information Technology, which amended the already
problematic IT Rules of 2021. The rules stifle dissent using vague
terms that run afoul of the requirement that laws be formulated with
clarity.

https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/statement-report/new-amendment-information-technology-rules-threatens-press-freedoms-must-be


5. Reports from Our Community

a) EU: Ensure Robust Civil Society Involvement to Enforce Digital Services Act

ARTICLE 19 welcomes the publication of Putting collective intelligence
to the enforcement of the Digital Services Act, a new report by Dr
Suzanne Vergnolle (the Report). The Report provides key
recommendations for cooperation mechanisms between civil society
organizations and regulators to guarantee strong civil society
involvement in Digital Services Act (DSA) enforcement.

https://www.article19.org/resources/report-civil-society-enforce-eu-digital-services-act/


b) Platform Democracy: How to Make Social Media Platforms More Democratic?

Thirty five researchers from six continents investigated existing
models of advisory bodies and proposed platform councils as a useful
instrument to ensure public values in digital spaces.
Read the report ‘Perspectives on Platform Power, Public Values and the
Potential of Social Media Councils’

https://graphite.page/platform-democracy-report/

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### Digital Rights Resources ###

1. Internet Society Pulse Blog: Making Censorship Data More User Friendly

Internet censorship poses increasingly significant dangers to open
access to the Internet, with governments, ISPs, and other actors
monitoring and tampering with user traffic. As Internet censorship
becomes more pervasive, there is a heightened need for high-quality
and easy-to-interpret network measurement data that can help
journalists, policymakers, researchers, and advocacy groups
characterize censorship mechanisms and ensure accountability on the
part of censors.

https://pulse.internetsociety.org/blog/making-censorship-data-more-user-friendly

_________________________________________________

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

1. Brazil Pushes Back on Big Tech Firms’ Campaign Against ‘Fake News Law’

Brazil's government and judiciary objected to big tech firms
campaigning against an internet regulation bill aimed at cracking down
on fake news, alleging undue interference in the debate in Congress.
Bill 2630, also known as the Fake News Law, puts the onus on the
internet companies, search engines and social messaging services to
find and report illegal material, instead of leaving it to the courts,
charging hefty fines for failures to do so.

https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/brazil-lawmakers-vote-controversial-bill-clean-up-social-media-2023-05-02/


2. Google is Failing Its Post-Roe Promise to Delete Sensitive Data. It
Logged My Abortion Clinic Visit.

Washington’s Post investigation finds Google still retains location
data about users who visit clinics, hospitals and other ‘particularly
personal’ locations, despite Google’s commitment to delete it.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/05/09/google-privacy-abortion-data/


3. Finnish Newspaper Hides Ukraine News Reports for Russians in Online Game

A Finnish newspaper is circumventing Russian media restrictions by
hiding news reports about the war in Ukraine in an online game popular
among Russian gamers. The newspaper was bypassing Russia’s censorship
through the first-person shooter game Counter-Strike, where gamers
battle against each other as terrorists and counter-terrorists in
timed matches.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/03/finnish-newspaper-hides-news-reports-for-russians-in-online-game


4. Why China’s Censors are Deleting Videos About Poverty

Xi Jinping says he has defeated poverty, but discussion of economic
struggle is taboo, scrubbed from the internet and banished from the
news.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/04/business/china-censorship-poverty.html


5. France is Cracking Down on the Influencer Industry

In recent years, a wave of high-profile scandals have hit France’s
influencer sector. The scope of social media scams reached beyond the
headlines, with influencers pedaling everything from Botox fillers to
gambling. Stéphane Vojetta, an MP in France’s Assemblée Nationale, saw
the repercussions first-hand.

https://time.com/6277524/france-influencer-marketing-regulation-social/


6. Bill C-11: Why is YouTube Mad in Canada?

A new law that seeks to give Canadian artists a leg up online has left
many influencers and tech giants alike seeing red.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65420133

_________________________________________________

### 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

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

Caribbean Climate Justice Journalism Fellowship
Climate Tracker & Open Society Foundation
Deadline: May 15, 2023
https://climatetracker.org/opportunity-for-caribbean-journalists-to-learn-and-report-about-climate-justice

Women in Computer Science
Generational Google Scholarship
Deadline: May 16, 2023
https://buildyourfuture.withgoogle.com/scholarships/generation-google-scholarship-emea

Global South Scholarships
Dejusticia Fellowship Program
Deadline: May 18, 2023
https://www.dejusticia.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/CONVOCATORIA-FELLOWS-ENG.pdf

Sustainable Protection Fund for the Francophone Africa
Digital Defenders Partnership
Deadline: May 20, 2023
https://www.digitaldefenders.org/fr/le-fonds-de-protection-durable-appel-a-candidature-ouvert-pour-la-region-dafrique-francophone/

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/

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/

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

### Events Calendar ###

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

Glitter Meetup: Languages Left Behind: Automated Content Analysis in
Non-English Languages
Team CommUNITY
May 18, 2023
9am EDT / 1pm UTC
Online
https://wiki.digitalrights.community/index.php?title=May_18_2023_GM

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

Glitter Meetup: 'Takweer' - Localizing Queer Arab Narratives & Digital Cultures
Team CommUNITY
May 25, 2023
9am EDT / 1pm UTC
Online
https://wiki.digitalrights.community/index.php?title=May_25_2023_GM

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

✎ Fundraising Analyst (Contract) | Wikimedia Foundation
+ Remote
https://grnh.se/68b46ca41us

✎ Digital Rights & Ethics Officer (medior) | Municipality of Amsterdam
+ Amsterdam, The Netherlands
https://werkenbij.amsterdam.nl/vacatures/digitale-rechten-en-ethiek-officer-medior--b1e8f686-0eef-4b21-ba32-3021733edb0d

✎ Digital rights and ethics officer (senior) | Municipality of Amsterdam
+ Amsterdam, The Netherlands
https://werkenbij.amsterdam.nl/vacatures/digitale-rechten-en-ethiek-officer-senior--2edc5621-552d-40cd-b9c0-88ddcac72dc6

✎ Digital Experience Senior Specialist | Wikimedia Foundation
+ Remote
https://grnh.se/c15e44771us

✎ Legal Fellow (Fall 2023) | Wikimedia Foundation
+ Remote
https://grnh.se/c16fe2371us

✎ Fellow in Responsible Computing | Mozilla
+ Remote in USA
https://boards.greenhouse.io/mozilla/jobs/5025651

✎ Social Media Monitor | European Union Election Observation Unit in Guatemala
+ Guatemala
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/activity-7060849863474786304-gDKD

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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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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