Digital Rights Weekly | April 22 - 26

[Team CommUNITY]

Hello Digital Rights Defenders!

Here is your weekly update on digital rights around the world for the
week of April 22 - 26. As a reminder, you can submit your news for the
newsletter here: https://www.digitalrights.community/weekly-newsletter

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*** Just 4 Days Left to Apply for the Global Gathering ***

You have less than four days to apply for your Global Gathering
ticket!! Make sure to fill out the application before April 30, it
takes less than five minutes!!  The 2024 Global Gathering will take
place September 27, 28, and 29 in Estoril, Portugal.
Deadline: April 30.

https://www.digitalrights.community/blog/2024-global-gathering-now-accepting-applications

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### Team CommUNITY (TCU) ###

May 2: Monthly Networking Meetup for the Global Digital Rights Community
https://wiki.digitalrights.community/index.php?title=May_2_2024_GM

May 9: Convite, the Security and Self-care Communication Program for
Indigenous, Black and Rural Communities in Colombia [Glitter Meetup]
https://wiki.digitalrights.community/index.php?title=May_9_2024_GM

May 16: sheEsecures, a Platform for an Inclusive and Feminist Internet
https://wiki.digitalrights.community/index.php?title=May_16_2024_GM

May 30: Open Technology Fund's Ask-Me-Anything
https://wiki.digitalrights.community/index.php?title=May_16_2024_GM

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### Digital Rights in the Community ###

1. Special AMA with Open Tech Fund’s Laura Cunnigham and Marcin de Kaminski

TCU is hosting a special “Ask me Anything” with Open Technology Fund
President, Laura Cunnigham, and Vice President of Programs, Marcin de
Kaminski during our May 9 Glitter Meetup.

Come and learn about OTF”s direct funding opportunities and lab
resources for the Internet Freedom community.  In addition, Cunningham
and de Kaminski will demystify OTF’s US Congressional mandate, share
the steps the organization has taken to better support and sustain the
IF community, and why they are optimistic about the future. Come ready
with your questions!

https://wiki.digitalrights.community/index.php?title=May_30_2024_GM


2. Apply for a Subgrant With the Safety for Voices Program

As part of its Safety for Voices program, the Association for
Progressive Communications (APC) has announced an open call for
subgrants to support land and environmental women human rights
defenders in their work to promote safety and prevention of violations
against them. Deadline: April 29, 2024.

https://www.apc.org/en/news/safety-voices-call-applications-subgrants


3. NGI Zero Commons Fund - Reclaim the Public Nature of the Internet

The nlnet foundation has an open call for their new NGI Zero Commons
Fund, focused on reclaiming the public nature of the internet. They
are looking for proposals that will deliver, mature and scale new
internet commons across the whole technology spectrum - from silicon
to middleware, to P2P infrastructure to convenient end user
applications. The fund has a holistic, full-stack approach, and is
looking for proposals ranging from 5.000 and 50.000 euros — with the
possibility to scale them up significantly if there is proven
potential. Deadline: June 1, 2024 12:00 CEST (noon).

https://nlnet.nl/commonsfund/


4. Apply to the Litigation Retreat on Platform Accountability

The Digital Freedom Fund’s 2nd Strategic Litigation Retreat on
Platform Accountability and Collective Redress is taking place in
Munich, Germany from the 24 to 28 June 2024. Participants working on
legal cases across the Council of Europe are eligible to apply. The
retreat combines training and workshop sessions aiming to develop
participants’ legal skills and tactics in a relaxed and collaborative
environment with other colleagues. Deadline: April 30, 2024.

https://stratlitretreat2.rsvpify.com


5. Civil-Society Leaders Assess Big Tech Election-Integrity Efforts in
Momentous Election Year

Earlier this month, a diverse global coalition of more than 200
civil-society organizations, researchers and journalists wrote a
letter to 12 tech companies, stating their demands for six
interventions Big Tech platforms must adopt to safeguard election
integrity in 2024. This week, coalition leaders discussed the comments
from the eight Big Tech platforms that responded. Four fringe
platforms — Twitter, Discord, Rumble and Twitch — didn’t respond,
continuing to evade public transparency and accountability for how
they will manage the spread of disinformation this election year.

https://www.freepress.net/news/press-releases/civil-society-leaders-assess-big-tech-election-integrity-efforts


6. OTI: Senate’s Passage of TikTok Ban Provisions Hastens World’s
Retreat from an Open Internet

The Open Technology Institute (OTI) - a New America program fostering
equitable access to digital technology and its benefits - issued a
statement in response to the U.S. Senate’s passage of a bill that
includes provisions that would require TikTok to change ownership or
be banned in the United States. OTI outlined disappointment that the
Senate passed a bill that will speed up a reversal of an open
internet.

https://www.newamerica.org/oti/press-releases/senates-passage-of-tiktok-ban-provisions-hastens-worlds-retreat-from-an-open-internet-says-oti/


6. Reports from Our Community

a) From Amazon to Uber: Why Platform Accountability Requires a Holistic Approach

Platform companies like Uber, Amazon, Airbnb, DoorDash and Instacart
wield immense influence over workers, prompting calls for
accountability measures to hold them responsible for their actions.
Grassroots efforts to hold these platforms accountable face
challenges. This report offers a framework that brings in a holistic
approach to platform governance involving all stakeholders working
together.

https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/from-amazon-to-uber-why-platform-accountability-requires-a-holistic-approach/


b) What’s Hard About Sharing Threat Intelligence?

Any industry finds sharing cyber threat intelligence challenging. But
the obstacles to social media platforms and civil society
organizations sharing data about social trust and safety threats are
uniquely thorny. Review Gus Andrews' report on the challenges of
threat intelligence sharing in civil society and the complete
stakeholder journey map:

https://gusandrews.medium.com/whats-hard-about-sharing-threat-intelligence-fd900db3308a

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

1. Apple Takes Down WhatsApp And Other Popular Messaging Apps From
Chinese App Store

Apple took down several popular messaging apps—including Meta’s
WhatsApp—from the iPhone’s Chinese App Store to comply with an order
by Chinese authorities who flagged certain apps for posing “national
security concerns.” Although Apple did not specify the list of flagged
apps, it also took down Meta’s Threads along with messaging apps
Signal, Line and Telegram.

https://www.wsj.com/tech/apple-removes-whatsapp-threads-from-china-app-store-on-government-orders-a0c02100


2. As Meta Flees Politics, Campaigns Rely on New Tricks to Reach Voters

The company has decreased the visibility of politics-focused posts and
accounts on Facebook and Instagram as well as imposed new rules on
political advertisers. Meta’s shift away from current events is
forcing campaigns to upend their digital outreach in a move that could
transform the 2024 election. Comparing March 2020 to March 2024, both
the Biden and Trump campaigns saw 60 percent declines in their average
engagement per Facebook post, a Washington Post review found, with
double-digit declines on Instagram.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/04/21/social-media-trump-biden-politics-instagram-facebook/


3. AI-fuelled Election Campaigns are Here and the Emerging Picture is
Deeply Worrying — Where are the Rules?

Nearly two billion people are living in countries that are holding
elections this year. Elections held in Indonesia and Pakistan in
February, among other countries, offer an early glimpse of what’s in
store as artificial intelligence (AI) technologies steadily intrude
into the electoral arena. Political candidates are increasingly using
AI-generated ‘softfakes’ to boost their campaigns. The emerging
picture is deeply worrying, and the concerns are much broader than
just misinformation or the proliferation of fake news

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-00995-9


4. Washington Post Analysis of Trump on Truth Social

Four Washington Post reporters teamed up to analyze how Trump’s social
media has changed from his first presidential run. They gathered data
on his posting on Truth Social via Junkipedia, a repository of social
media, and data on his posting on Twitter via the Trump Archive. Among
the observations, his following is diminished, but his posting has
accelerated, and is more isolated and angrier. Despite this, polls
show that he may have convinced as many as 70 percent of Republicans
that Biden won the 2020 election because of voter fraud.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2024/trump-truth-social-posts/

Truth Social is the social media platform that Donald Trump launched
in early 2022, after he was banned from major sites such as Facebook
and Twitter following the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Research firm Similarweb estimates that Truth Social had roughly 5
million monthly visits in February of this year. That compares with
more than 2 billion for TikTok and more than 3 billion monthly active
users for Facebook.

https://apnews.com/article/truth-social-donald-trump-djt-ipo-digital-world-7437d5dcc491a1459a078195ae547987


5. Elon Musk in War of Words Over Censorship in Australia

Elon Musk and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese clash over
order to remove X posts on church stabbing. An Australian judge ruled
that X must block users worldwide from accessing videos of a knife
attack on an Assyrian Christian bishop in Sydney after the country’s
internet watchdog sought an injunction. Musk did not like it.

https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2024/4/23/arrogant-billionaire-australia-musk-in-war-of-words-over-censorship

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

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

Safety for Voices Program
Association for Progressive Communications (APC)
Deadline: April 29, 204
https://www.apc.org/en/news/safety-voices-call-applications-subgrants

Spyware Accountability Initiative Fund
Deadline: April 30, 2024
https://stopspyware.fund/apply

Disinformation & Misinformation in the Arab World
Deadline: April 30, 2024
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VnldHWwxrBcD0_wlU_PEer2JFJvPmjhM/view

Litigation Retreat on Platform Accountability and Collective Redress
Munich, Germany
Deadline: April 30, 2024
https://stratlitretreat2.rsvpify.com

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

Internet Society Foundation
Deadline: May 14, 2024
https://isoc.pub/ResearchGrant

2024 Digital Rights Summer School
Deadline: May 15, 2024
https://www.sharefoundation.info/en/apply-for-the-2024-digital-rights-summer-school/

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

North Korea Information Technology Incubator (NKITI) Program
Deadline: May 31, 2024
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeaGp96ALLj9gKcJYcHwDFSF1A3QD9c9kU-NVHZOoFhGgLOdw/viewform

NGI Zero Commons Fund - Reclaim the Public Nature of the Internet
Deadline: June 1, 2024, 12:00 CEST (noon)
https://nlnet.nl/commonsfund

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/

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

Glitter Meetup: The Social Networking Glitter Meetup
Team CommUNITY
May 2, 2024
9am EDT / 1pm UTC
Online
https://wiki.digitalrights.community/index.php?title=May_2_2024_GM

Glitter Meetup: "Convite"- the Security and Self-care Communication
Program for Indigenous, Black and Rural Communities in Colombia
Team CommUNITY
May 9, 2024
9am EDT / 1pm UTC
Online
https://wiki.digitalrights.community/index.php?title=May_9_2024_GM

Digital Rights in Francophone Africa and MENA Meetup
Team CommUNITY
May 9, 2024
9am EDT / 1pm UTC
Online
https://wiki.digitalrights.community/index.php?title=Mai_9_2024,_Digital_Rights_in_Francophone_Africa_and_MENA_Meetup

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

Glitter Meetup: sheEsecures - a Platform for an Inclusive and Feminist Internet
Team CommUNITY
May 16, 2024
9am EDT / 1pm UTC
Online
https://wiki.digitalrights.community/index.php?title=May_16_2024_GM

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

Glitter Meetup: Glitter Meetup: What is Happening with Digital Rights
Around the World?
Team CommUNITY
May 23, 2024
9am EDT / 1pm UTC
Online
https://wiki.digitalrights.community/index.php?title=May_23_2024_GM

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

Glitter Meetup: Open Technology Fund's Ask-Me-Anything
Team CommUNITY
May 30, 2024
9am EDT / 1pm UTC
Online
https://wiki.digitalrights.community/index.php?title=May_30_2024_GM

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

✎ Co-Lead: Program Manager Operations DDP | Hivos
+ The Hague
https://hivos.org/vacancy/co-lead-program-manager-operations-ddp/

✎ Co-Lead: Program Manager DDP | Hivos
+ The Hague, Nairobi, San Jose, Beirut or Jakarta
https://hivos.org/vacancy/co-lead-program-manager-ddp/

✎ Digital Safety Representative (South Asia) | Access Now
+ South Asia
https://accessnow.bamboohr.com/careers/208?source=aWQ9MjA%3D

✎ Program Assistant | GreatFire
+ Remote
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WEk6cDt5ixl15WFHCf-va99yQmjU9qrZHwWXOVsIcok/edit

✎ Senior Digital Rights Campaigner | OpenMedia
+ Canada
https://openmedia.bamboohr.com/careers/31

✎ Senior Manager, Digital Risk | Dow Jones
+ London, UK
https://dowjones.jobs/london-1-london-bridge-st-gbr/senior-manager-digital-risk/CC0A2B7999D744AFA86211B08A5DDAF8/job/

✎ Senior Research Manager | UpTogether
+ Remote
https://uptogether.applytojob.com/apply/sP1BFbNamE/Senior-Research-Manager

✎ Developer and/or SysAdmin | IndieHosters
+ France
https://indiehosters.net/nous-rejoindre/

✎ Project Manager for Technical Programs | The Calyx Institute
+ Remote
https://boards.greenhouse.io/calyxinstitute/jobs/4351170007

✎ Senior Systems Developer (SRE|SysAdmin) | The Calyx Institute
+ Hybrid in Seattle, Washington, USA
https://boards.greenhouse.io/calyxinstitute/jobs/4349990007

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
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