Digital Rights Weekly | April 8 - 12 | IMPORTANT Announcement

Mon Apr 15 23:19:38 CEST 2024

Hello Digital Rights Defenders!

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

***** IMPORTANT UPDATE ********

Global Gathering Deadline Extended to April 30

We are extending the deadline to apply for your Global Gathering
ticket to April 30! This is to allow time for last minute requests.
However, the Equity Fund closed on April 15. The 2024 Global Gathering
will take place September 27, 28, and 29 in Estoril, Portugal.

Apply Before April 30
https://www.digitalrights.community/blog/2024-global-gathering-now-accepting-applications

******************************************

### Team CommUNITY (TCU) ###

1. April 18: The Social Networking Glitter Meetup (Glitter Meetup)

Join the Social Networking Glitter Meetup on April 18th! As a space to
connect with others in the digital rights community, join us and share
the project(s) that you are working on, an event that caught your
attention, general questions about the experience of working in this
field, and even your vacations. We will be happy to hear from you!

https://wiki.digitalrights.community/index.php?title=April_18_2024_GM

____________________________________________

### Digital Rights in the Community ###

1. If you Received an Apple Threat Notification of Spyware Attack,
Amnesty International Security Lab Can Help You

On 10 April 2024, Apple sent threat notifications to users of iPhones
in 92 countries. If you received a notification, the Amnesty Security
Lab may be able to help! Use their “Get Help” to request forensic
support. Note; this service is only available to human rights
defenders, activists, journalists and members of civil society.

https://securitylab.amnesty.org/latest/2024/04/apple-threat-notifications-what-they-mean-and-what-you-can-do/

2. DRIF24 to to Take Place in Accra Ghana April 23 to 25

The 2024 Edition of Digital Rights and Inclusion Forum (DRIF24) is a
bilingual global event which will take place on April 23 to April 25
in Accra, Ghana, and will feature diverse conversations around digital
policy in Africa. This year’s theme is “Fostering Rights and Inclusion
in the Digital Age.”

https://drif.paradigmhq.org/

3. Bread&Net Will take place Online on May 13 to 15

Bread&Net Online will host a series of webinars from May 13 to 15,
2024 to address key challenges that emerged over the last year across
West Asia and North Africa. The Bread&Net online program, Digital
Rights in the Times of War, will provide participants with the best
possible tools for digital rights advocacy in turbulent and trying
times. Originally, the event was going to be held in-person in Beirut
in November 2023, but it was impossible to host the event and maintain
business as usual amid the Israeli aggression on Lebanese towns in the
South.

https://www.breadandnet.org/en/

4. Growing With The People: Insights from Outline VPN Providers

Review a research collaboration between Jigsaw and Okthanks to shed
light on the social challenges and technical hurdles encountered by
both the people using VPNs and those providing them. Seeing how VPN
providers have adapted the Outline technology and their services
provides key lessons about what has worked and where challenges
remain. The recommendations in this report inform the future
development of Outline and also share understanding on how VPNs need
to respond and evolve at this moment in time of internet censorship.

https://okthanks.com/blog/2024/4/9/growing-with-the-people

5.  The Tor Project Report on the Global Impact of Israeli “Defense”
Technologies on Privacy and Human Rights

A recent report from The Tor Project delves into the impact of Israeli
surveillance technologies in Palestine, illustrating how localized
instances of its use can have extensive repercussions that pave the
way for the widespread acceptance and global adoption of such
oppressive practices. The examples demonstrate the alarming
sophistication of surveillance capitalism and its increasingly global
footprint. Read how Israeli spyware and surveillance companies
navigate global scrutiny by rebranding and establishing offices
worldwide, all while a network of venture capital firms facilitate
their operations and help them avoid much needed accountability.

https://blog.torproject.org/surveillance-as-a-service-global-impact-of-israeli-defense-technologies-on-privacy-human-rights/

6. Amnesty International Global Youth Summit on Digital Rights April 13 to 15

Amnesty International is hosting the Global Youth Summit on Digital
Rights in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from 13 to 15 April 2024. The event
will provide a space for children and young people to share ideas and
envision a world that respects their rights, health, and well-being
online. The summit will focus on issues affecting children and young
people online including surveillance, harassment, and abuse, with the
aim of supporting them to feel safe and be able to assert their rights
and those of others online.

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/04/amnesty-international-hosts-global-youth-summit-on-digital-rights-in-buenos-aires-argentina/

7. EU: AI Act Fails to Set Gold Standard for Human Rights

As EU institutions are expected to conclusively adopt the EU
Artificial Intelligence Act this month, ARTICLE 19 joins those voicing
criticism about how the Act fails to set a gold standard for human
rights protection. The AI Act is a missed opportunity to make sure
that our rights to privacy, equality, non-discrimination, the
presumption of innocence and many other rights and freedoms are
protected when it comes to artificial intelligence.

https://www.article19.org/resources/eu-ai-act-fails-to-set-gold-standard-for-human-rights/

8. More Than 200 Groups Urge Leading Tech Platforms to Implement
Election-Integrity Policies to Protect Democracy Worldwide

At least 60 countries are conducting national elections this year amid
evidence of rising authoritarianism around the globe. A coalition of
more than 200 civil-society organizations, researchers and journalists
sent a letter to the top executives of the leading social-media
platforms, calling on them to strengthen platform-integrity efforts to
protect democratic elections worldwide in 2024. The letter also urges
investment in greater platform accountability by reinstating
election-integrity policies and staffing up critical trust and safety
teams to better enforce policies across languages.

https://www.freepress.net/news/press-releases/more-200-groups-urge-leading-tech-platforms-protect-election-integrity

Check out ARTICLE 19’s key priority calls for online platforms:

https://www.article19.org/resources/seven-priorities-for-online-platforms-during-elections/

For more context, read Free Press’ report titled “Big Tech Backslide:
How Social-Media Rollbacks Endanger Democracy Ahead of the 2024
Elections”, a report documenting how platforms have retreated from
democratic accountability by rolling back essential policies,
instituting layoffs and reinstating thousands of dangerous and
extremist accounts:

https://www.freepress.net/big-tech-backslide-report

9. Reports from Our Community!

a) Mapping Tech Companies’ Cloud Expansion in the Gulf and its Human
Rights Implications

Since 2018, an increasing number of companies -mainly from the U.S.
and China-, launched cloud regions and data centers in the Gulf,
despite outcry from civil society groups over human rights violations
and risks. This report maps the expansion of technology companies’
cloud and data center operations in the region and outlines the human
rights risks that come with it as a result of weak data protection
laws. The report also provides recommendations for tech companies,
civil society, and the U.S. Congress.

https://smex.org/mapping-tech-companies-cloud-expansion-in-the-gulf-and-its-human-rights-implications/

b) Palestinian Digital Rights & the Cross-territorial Impact of the
European Union’s Digital Services Act

The Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media, published a new
study titled “Palestinian Digital Rights and the Extraterritorial
Impact of the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA)”. The study
investigates the intricacies in the Israel/Palestine context and
European Union (EU) legislations, particularly the DSA. It examines
the negative and positive impacts of the DSA notably regarding
contexts of conflict and crisis, particularly post-October 7, whereby
the European regulation extends its influence globally and affects
platforms' operations beyond EU borders.

https://7amleh.org/2024/04/08/palestinian-digital-rights-and-the-extraterritorial-impact-of-the-european-union-s-digital-services-act

c) The Engine Room's Community Call Recap: "Dreams of a collective
infrastructure for information ecosystems in Latin America"

On 5 March they held their third community call for their project
focused on strengthening and building healthy information ecosystems
in Latin America and the Caribbean. The topic for this community call
was “Dreams of a collective infrastructure for information ecosystems
in Latin America.” The theme was inspired by conversations they have
been having around the exclusion of historically marginalised groups
within the information ecosystem, and initiatives that are focused on
bridging the information needs of indigenous and Afro-descendent
communities.

https://www.theengineroom.org/library/the-hill-is-no-longer-called-by-its-own-name-but-is-called-the-hill-of-the-antennas/

________________________________________________

### Digital Rights Community Resources ###

1. The Digital Rights Archive: A Research Tool for Digital Policy
Making & Analysis

If you’re doing some research on digital rights, check out The Digital
Rights Archive. This platform is a searchable stack of academic
papers, journalism, videos, and podcasts that are unearthed by
algorithms and handpicked by humans. Materials are available in
English and French.

https://www.digitalrightsarchive.net/

________________________________________________

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

1. Lavender & Where’s Daddy: How Israel Used AI to Form Kill Lists &
Bomb Palestinians in their Homes

The Israeli publications +972 and Local Call exposed how the Israeli
military used an artificial intelligence program known as Lavender to
develop a “kill list” in Gaza that includes as many as 37,000
Palestinians who were targeted for assassination with little human
oversight. A second AI system known as “Where’s Daddy?” tracked
Palestinians on the kill list and was purposely designed to help
Israel target individuals when they were at home at night with their
families.

https://www.democracynow.org/2024/4/5/israel_ai

Google Won’t Say Anything About Israel Using its Photo Software to
Create Gaza “Hit List”

The facial recognition program relies on two different facial
recognition tools: one made by the Israeli contractor Corsight, and
the other built into the popular consumer image organization platform
offered through Google Photos. An anonymous Israeli official told the
New York Times that Google Photos worked better than any of the
alternative facial recognition tech. Google prohibits using its tech
for “immediate harm,” but Israel is using it anyway.

https://theintercept.com/2024/04/05/google-photos-israel-gaza-facial-recognition/

2. Ola Bini in Ecuador: Court Accepts Conditional Suspension of
Sentence for Software Developer and Digital Activist, but He is Still
Facing Hard Measures

Five years ago the Swedish software developer and digital rights
activist, Ola Bin, was arrested in Ecuador. Despite being declared
innocent in 2023, on April 5, 2024, an appeals court convicted him for
“Attempted Non-Consensual Access to a Computer System”. Afterwards,
the Court of Criminal Guarantees of Pichincha accepted the conditional
suspension of the sentence. However, Ola Bini is still forced to
attend weekly presentations at the Prosecution office and he is
prohibited from leaving the country. He has expressed that, although
his defense requested the conditional suspension of the sentence, this
does not imply that he is guilty, but rather it is a measure of
protection for his integrity. The case is still in development.

Report in Spanish about the last events: https://inredh.org/10922-2/

Report in English about the sentence on April 5:
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2024/04/08/activist-ola-bini-sentenced-to-one-year-in-prison-after-ecuadorian-court-overturns-acquittal/

3. Iran Experiences Widespread Internet Outage

Iranian media reported a nationwide disruption in the internet
network. Local news outlet Etemad reported a "severe disruption" in
the network, leading to outages in some key urban centers.

https://shafaq.com/en/World/Iran-experiences-widespread-internet-outage

4. Elon Musk will be investigated over Fake News and Obstruction in
Brazil after a Supreme Court Order

A Brazilian Supreme Court justice has included Elon Musk in an ongoing
investigation over the dissemination of fake news, and has opened a
separate investigation into the executive for alleged obstruction. In
his decision, Justice Alexandre de Moraes noted that Musk began waging
a public “disinformation campaign” regarding the top court’s actions —
most notably with comments that his social media company X would cease
to comply with the court’s orders to block certain accounts.

https://apnews.com/article/brazil-musk-x-supreme-court-investigation-a645757b95a66ee658832802908466ab

Musk vs. Brazil Supreme Court - five things to know:

https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20240410-musk-vs-brazil-supreme-court-five-things-to-know

5. Over 6,000 Links from a Non-Profit Newspaper Disappeared Overnight
on Meta Properties

Every single link -about 6,000 stories - that the Kansas Reflector had
ever posted to Facebook disappeared from the platform last week. For
seven hours, anyone trying to post a Reflector link was met with a
warning that the site posed a security risk. By the end of the day,
almost all of the Reflector’s links had come back online, save for
one: an opinion piece that criticized Facebook’s policies around paid
promotions.

To test the theory that the Reflector’s domain had some kind of
security issue, a Brooklyn-based journalist, Marisa Kabas, asked for
permission to republish the text of that column on her own website.
But sure enough, when Kabas posted her own link to the column on
Threads, Meta flagged it as malicious content and took it down. Then
Meta nuked everything her website had ever published on its platforms,
a block that lasted at least two hours, Kabas told CNN.

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/04/09/tech/meta-social-media-nightcap/index.html

6. Home Office CCTV: Free Mass Surveillance?

The UK Home Office has for several years run a programme to supply
Mosques, temples and Synagogues with security equipment including CCTV
cameras. The CCTV camera systems are installed through a single
vendor, chosen by the Home Office, called Esotec Ltd. It is common for
CCTV systems to include cloud based storage of footage which creates
the possibility for the security services to bulk seize camera footage
across all sites without the knowledge of the CCTV system owners.

https://www.openrightsgroup.org/blog/home-office-surveillance-cctv/

7. Digital Rights in the Caribbean: Not to be Lost in the Eternal Darkness

Within the Latin American and the Caribbean region, the Caribbean has
particular digital rights challenges due to geographical and
socio-political characteristics. It is hard to talk about digital IDs
when there are connectivity issues, for example. This article outlines
some of the current issues, such as the implications of digital
transformation, digital ID systems, censorship, and surveillance
through the cases of Cuba, Jamaica, and the Dominican Republic.

https://www.techpolicy.press/digital-rights-in-the-caribbean-not-to-be-lost-in-the-eternal-darknes/

8. The Less Visible Side of the Battle for Digital Rights & Sovereignty

The World Trade Organization’s 13th Ministerial Conference, held in
Abu Dhabi a few weeks ago, concentrated several key discussions on the
future of digital governance. The debates occurred far from the public
eye and with civil society reporting patent violations of their rights
during the negotiations. During the conference, new commitments were
adopted to limit government action on technology regulation, contrary
to the demand to review measures that threaten the digital sovereignty
of countries, especially in the Global South.

https://www.derechosdigitales.org/23448/the-less-visible-side-of-the-battle-for-digital-rights-and-sovereignty/

_________________________________________________

### 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://wiki.digitalrights.community/index.php?title=Fundraising_Opportunities

Mozilla Senior Fellows
Deadline to Register: April 17, 2024
Deadline to Submit: May 6, 2024
https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/what-we-fund/fellowships/senior-fellows/fellowship-details/

Grant Applications for Mapping Transparency & Governance on Rainforest Issues
Pulitzer Center
Deadline: April 18, 2024
https://pulitzercenter.org/blog/call-proposals-mapping-transparency-and-governance-rainforest-issues

Oxford Media Policy Summer Institute on Technology, Policy, & Democracy in Flux
Jesus College, Oxford
Deadline: April 24, 2024
https://pcmlp.socleg.ox.ac.uk/oxford-media-policy-summer-institute-2024/

African Union Digital and Innovation Fellowship - Cohort 2
Deadline: April 28, 2024
https://auinnovationfellowship.com/

Women in Digital Economy Fund
Deadline: May 6, 2024
https://widef.global/funding

FOSS Sustainability Fund
Deadline: May 17, 2024
https://www.opentech.fund/funds/free-and-open-source-software-sustainability-fund/

ICANN Grant Program
Deadline: May 24, 2024
https://www.icann.org/grant-program-en

Female EdTech Fellowship Europe
Deadline: July 22, 2024
https://www.edtech-fellowship.eu/

Digital Rights Fund for WANA Region
Deadline: Rolling
SMEX
https://smex.org/digital-rights-fund/

Open Tech Fund
Deadline: Rolling
https://www.opentech.fund/

FOSS United
Deadline: Rolling
https://fossunited.org/grants

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 Feminist Activism
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 ###

Virtual School on Internet Governance
Virtual Course on Digital Capitalism
April 1 - May 12, 2024
https://lnkd.in/eGSKb2PX

Global Youth Summit on Digital Rights
Amnesty International
April 13 - 15, 2024
Buenos Aires, Argentina
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/04/amnesty-international-hosts-global-youth-summit-on-digital-rights-in-buenos-aires-argentina/

The Social Networking Glitter Meetup
Team CommUNITY
April 18, 2024
9am EDT / 1pm UTC
Online
https://wiki.digitalrights.community/index.php?title=April_18_2024_GM

7amleh Palestine Digital Rights Group
Discriminatory Policies on Social Media Platforms in Times of War
April 18
5:30pm UTC
Online
https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_PjWuvInzRBiV3QXEUXvq6w#/registration

DRIF24: Fostering Rights & Inclusion in the Digital Age
April 23 - 25, 2024
Accra, Ghana
https://drif.paradigmhq.org/

Quiet: A Secure Slack Alternative for Groups that Outgrow Signal
[Glitter Meetup]
Team CommUNITY
April 25, 2024
9am EDT / 1pm UTC
Online
https://wiki.digitalrights.community/index.php?title=April_25_2024_GM

Bread&Net Online | Digital Rights in Times of War
May 13 - 15, 2024
Online
https://www.breadandnet.org/en/

Asia Meetup
Team CommUNITY
May 15, 2024
8am EDT / 12pm UTC
Online
https://wiki.digitalrights.community/index.php?title=May_15_2024,_Asia_Meetup

LATAM Meetup
Team CommUNITY
May 22, 2024
5:30pm EDT / 9:30pm UTC
Online
https://wiki.digitalrights.community/index.php?title=22_de_Mayo,_2024_LATAM

Africa Meetup
Team CommUNITY
May 23, 2024
11am EDT / 3pm UTC
Online
https://wiki.digitalrights.community/index.php?title=May_23_2024,_Africa_Meetup

MENA Meetup
Team CommUNITY
May 29, 2024
10am EDT / 2pm UTC
Online
https://wiki.digitalrights.community/index.php?title=May_29_2024,_MENA_Meetup

7amleh
Palestine Digital Activism Forum (PDAF 2024)
June 4 & 5, 2024
https://2024.pdaf.net/about-theme-en

Check out a list of our virtual events here:
https://wiki.digitalrights.community/index.php?title=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

✎ User Research Coordinator | Tor Project, Inc.
+ Remote
https://www.torproject.org/about/jobs/user-research-coordinator/

✎ Product Designer | Tor Project, Inc.
+ Remote
https://www.torproject.org/about/jobs/product-designer/

✎ Individual Giving Manager | Tor Project, Inc.
+ Remote
https://www.torproject.org/about/jobs/individual-giving-manager/

✎ Product Manager | Eticas
+ Remote
https://zurl.to/0p10?source=CareerSite

✎ Chief of Party, Civic DEFENDERS | Freedom House
+ Washington DC, USA
https://phe.tbe.taleo.net/phe01/ats/careers/v2/viewRequisition?org=FREEHOUS&cws=39&rid=1441

✎ Deputy Chief of Party, Civic DEFENDERS | Freedom House
+ Washington DC, USA
https://phe.tbe.taleo.net/phe01/ats/careers/v2/viewRequisition?org=FREEHOUS&cws=39&rid=1440

✎ Gender and Other Marginalized Groups Advisor, Civic DEFENDERS | Freedom House
+ Washington DC, USA
https://phe.tbe.taleo.net/phe01/ats/careers/v2/viewRequisition?org=FREEHOUS&cws=39&rid=1443

✎ Lingua Director | Global Voices
+ Remote
https://globalvoices.org/2024/04/08/global-voices-seeks-a-lingua-director-to-oversee-multilingual-projects-and-initiatives/

✎ Executive Director | Open Environmental Data Project
+ Remote in USA
https://openenvironmentaldata.org/work-with-us

✎ Project Officer - Grants and Contracts (EECCA) | Digital Defenders Partnership
+ Remote
https://www.digitaldefenders.org/open-vacancy-project-officer-grants-eecca/

✎ Lead Program Officer - Gender (Contract) | Wikimedia Foundation
+ Remote
https://grnh.se/640b91f51us

✎ Senior Product Manager, MediaWiki Integration Interfaces | Wikimedia
Foundation
+ Remote
https://grnh.se/4d004b131us

✎ Senior Product Manager, MediaWiki Core Platform | Wikimedia Foundation
+ Remote
https://grnh.se/2cdf68361us

✎ Development and Operations Director | OpenArchive
+ Remote
https://open-archive.org/jobs/dod

✎ Project Manager – Social Media and Conflict Mediation | The Centre
for Humanitarian Dialogue
+ Remote
https://hdcentre.org/careers/project-manager-social-media-and-conflict-mediation/

✎ Asistente del Analista de Medios y Comunicación Digital | European
Union Election Experts (Mission to México)
+ Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico
https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/3883413947?original_referer=

✎ Project Coordinator, Sudan | Internews
+ Remote
https://phf.tbe.taleo.net/phf04/ats/careers/v2/viewRequisition?org=INTERNEWS&cws=38&rid=2212

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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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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