Digital Rights Weekly | January 20 - 24

[Team CommUNITY]

Hello Digital Rights Defenders!

Here is your weekly update on digital rights around the world for the 
week of January 20 - 24. As a reminder, you can submit your news for the 
newsletter here:
https://www.digitalrights.community/weekly-newsletter

What is in this issue:

TCU News
Community News
Community Resources
Digital Rights in the Wider World
Statements from our Community
Job Opportunities
Events
Grants, Fellowships, & Awards
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### Team CommUNITY (TCU News) ###

1. Amnesty Security Lab: Getting to Know How They Work With Civil 
Society on Spyware and Digital Surveillance

Amnesty International’s Security Lab brings together a diverse team of 
researchers, hackers, coders and advocates committed to protecting civil 
society from the growing threats of unlawful digital surveillance, 
spyware, and other technology-driven human rights abuses. We spoke to 
Molly Rose Freeman Cyr, Community Engagement Lead, about the Security 
Lab’s work, fellowship, and the growing concern of the private sector 
getting involved in supporting civil society with digital forensic analysis.

https://www.digitalrights.community/blog/community-series-amnesty-tech-security-lab


2. Upcoming January Digital Rights Town Halls

Jan 30 | Undersea Cables in Africa - New Frontiers for Digital 
Colonialism (Glitter Meetup)
https://wiki.digitalrights.community/index.php?title=January_30_2025_GM

Feb 6 | The Social Networking Glitter Meetup (Glitter Meetup)
https://wiki.digitalrights.community/index.php?title=February_6_2025_GM

Feb 20 | What is Happening in Digital Rights Around the World? (Glitter 
Meetup)
https://wiki.digitalrights.community/index.php?title=February_20_2025_GM

Feb 27 | The Hong Kong Accountability Archive (Glitter Meetup)
https://wiki.digitalrights.community/index.php?title=February_27_2025_GM


4. Follow Us on Linkedin!

Team CommUNITY is now on Linkedin. Keep up with the latest digital 
rights opportunities and resources by following us here: 
https://www.linkedin.com/company/teamcommunity

____________________________________________

### Community News ###


1. Tor Project: Research Study Sign-Up

The Tor Project is recruiting participants for a study on a new 
Tor-powered tool. They seek participants familiar with Tor, aged 18+, 
from any gender or location. Interviews will last 45 minutes, will be 
conducted by Plaintext Design researchers, and may include a follow-up. 
Sign up here:
https://interalia.host/nextcloud/index.php/apps/forms/s/LDE5FR36D3BN6J7JAAc28Pyn


2. Digital Defenders Partnership’s Sustainable Protection Fund 2025

Digital Defenders Partnership (DDP) is currently receiving applications 
from Anglophone and Francophone Africa for their Sustainable Protection 
Fund (SPF). The fund aims to help human rights organizations or 
collectives build their long-term digital security capacities. Grants 
are up to €10,000 and cover activities for a maximum of one year. 
Deadline: February 14, 2025.

https://www.digitaldefenders.org/sustainable-protection-fund-open-call-for-africa/ 



3. Free Journalism Cyber Investigations Training Course

The Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN) is offering a free, 
online cyber investigations training program for investigative 
journalists. The course will run for six weeks, starting April 14, 2025. 
Deadline to apply: February 1, 2025.
https://gijn.org/stories/digital-threats-fourth-cyber-investigations-training-course/

4. Webinar | Human Rights Responsibilities & Challenges for Tech 
Companies Operating in Authoritarian Countries

EngageMedia is hosting a webinar as part of their DRAPAC events that aim 
to generate conversations on human and digital rights in the networked 
society. The event will feature speakers from ARTICLE 19 and other CSOs 
on February 7, from 1pm to 2:30 PM Bangkok time (UTC+7). Register:

https://engagemedia.org/events/drapac-series-12-human-rights-tech-companies/


5. Festival of Innovation and Social Technology

The Festival of Innovation and Social Technology (FITS) is happening on 
February 20, 2025 in Bogota, Colombia. This event is a space for 
connection, learning, and exchange among individuals and organizations 
that leverage social technology and innovation to drive positive change 
worldwide. Registration is free but limited:

www.fits.ong


6. Reports from Our Community

a) Digital Bahujan Publishing Infrastructures

The Center for Internet & Society in India released a report looking at 
alternative anti-caste publications as sites where marginalized castes 
claim media representation. The report documents and articulates a 
vision of an anti-caste internet and social media that is emerging 
through these publishing practices.

https://cis-india.org/raw/bahujan-digital-publishing-infrastructures

You can also check out this complementary open library for learning 
about caste, the internet, and social media in India.

https://www.zotero.org/groups/4884266/caste_and_internet_reader_2023/collections/E7I9YZFZ


b) ToTok, Baz and Others: UAE and KSA Promote Unsafe Communication Apps

SMEX analyzed several apps that were either launched by a company from a 
country in the Gulf region or promoted by Gulf media. Attempts by 
countries in the MENA region to promote “native” social media 
applications proved to have risky privacy policies. The report examines 
how each of the apps collects, stores, and shares user data and the 
potential privacy breaches these practices imply.
https://smex.org/totok-baz-and-others-uae-and-ksa-promote-unsafe-communication-apps/ 



c) Tunisia: Access to Information & Digitalization

This policy brief highlights the vital role the right to information 
plays in the digital age. Drawing on lessons learned, identifying 
challenges, and offering actionable recommendations, this brief aims to 
support reforms that align Tunisia’s digital transformation with global 
best practices.
https://www.article19.org/resources/tunisia-access-to-information-and-digitalization/ 



d) Controlled & Confined: Unveiling the Impact of Technology in the 
Samos Closed Controlled Access Centre

This report examines the deployment and impact of surveillance 
technology in the EU-funded
Closed Control and Access Centre, a high-security refugee camp on Samos 
island in Greece. This report aims to bring to light the human impact of 
the use of technology in Samos, including the removal of people on the 
move’s phones, CCTV, drones, motion recognition analytics and biometric 
data processing.

https://ihaverights.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/FINAL_IHR-BVMN_TECHNOLOGIES-REPORT.pdf

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### Community Resources  ###


1. Myanmar’s Cyber Law is a Serious Threat to Privacy, Speech, & Security

Rather than ensuring cybersecurity, Myanmar’s newly adopted Cyber 
Security “Law” grants the military sweeping powers to control online 
spaces. This analysis highlights how the law deviates from international 
human rights standards and threatens privacy, digital security, and more.

https://humanrightsmyanmar.org/myanmars-cyber-law-a-serious-threat-to-privacy-speech-and-security/


2. How Taiwan Balances Cybersecurity With Human Rights in Resisting China

Taiwan’s approach to cybersecurity governance is not only a lesson in 
resisting cyber threats from China but also an important bulwark against 
Beijing’s attempts to set repressive digital norms.

https://thediplomat.com/2025/01/how-taiwan-balances-cybersecurity-with-human-rights-in-resisting-china/ 



3. At What Cost are We Bridging Africa’s Digital Divide?

Beneath the promises of enhanced connectivity in Africa lies a complex 
narrative of foreign control, environmental impact, data exploitation, 
and limited digital sovereignty — a 21st-century iteration of colonial 
dynamics cloaked in the  rhetoric of “connecting the unconnected.” At 
what cost are we bridging Africa’s digital divide, and who ultimately 
benefits from these initiatives?

https://globalvoices.org/2025/01/18/at-what-cost-are-we-bridging-africas-digital-divide/


4. EDRi: Meta and X are Going Rogue. Here is what Europe Should Do Now

As influential figures like Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, and 
other tech billionaires align themselves with the Trump administration, 
EDRi shares that it becomes all the more important for the European 
Union to maintain a firm commitment to enforcing its tech regulations.

https://edri.org/our-work/meta-and-x-are-going-rogue-here-is-what-europe-should-do-now/


5. Government Internet Shutdowns Cost $7.69 Billion in 2024

Top10VPN.com’s annual report analyzed every major intentional internet 
shutdown in 2024 and revealed that they cost the world economy $7.69 
billion. It detected 167 major self-imposed internet outages that took 
place in 28 countries – the highest number of countries in a single 
year, to date. Pakistan was the most affected nation in this regard 
($1.62 billion), followed by Myanmar ($1.58 billion) and Sudan ($1.12 
billion).

https://www.top10vpn.com/research/cost-of-internet-shutdowns/


6. A New Chapter in Iran’s Internet Policy: Hope or Mirage?

Iran has taken a step toward easing internet restrictions by unblocking 
WhatsApp and Google Play, signaling a shift in its digital landscape. 
However, challenges like systemic inefficiencies and outdated 
regulations remain obstacles to progress.
https://moderndiplomacy.eu/2025/01/21/a-new-chapter-in-irans-internet-policy-hope-or-mirage/


7. Opinion: Ten Reasons Not to Use AI for Development & Ten Routes to 
More Responsible Use

Although the harms of using AI have already been well documented, the 
work to mitigate and overcome AI harms and injustice is in its infancy. 
To avoid causing harm and reputational damage, development funders and 
humanitarian agencies should apply precautionary principles.

https://www.ids.ac.uk/opinions/ten-reasons-not-to-use-ai-for-development-and-ten-routes-to-more-responsible-use/ 


____________________________________________

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

1. Pakistan Faces $1.62 Billion Loss from Internet and Social Media 
Outages in 2024

Pakistan suffered the highest financial losses worldwide from internet 
and social media outages in 2024, amounting to $1.62 billion. Given the 
country’s already struggling economy and IT industry, this loss is 
significant.

https://thediplomat.com/2025/01/the-economic-impact-of-pakistans-internet-crisis/


2. TikTok Restores US Services as Ban Looms

TikTok is back in the US — for now. The platform briefly went dark for 
US users and vanished from US app stores shortly before a Sunday 
deadline, when its parent company, ByteDance, was supposed to sell its 
domestic operations to an American buyer. After President-elect Donald 
Trump pledged to postpone the ban, the platform restored its services 
but remained unavailable for download.

https://www.dw.com/en/tiktok-back-online-us-ban/a-71308359

The evolution of the U.S. TikTok ban: A TikTok ban was first floated by 
President Trump in 2020, and ultimately signed into law by President 
Biden in 2024. In this collection, you can find several articles related 
to the process and its impact in the tech ecosystem.

https://restofworld.org/collection/2025-tiktok-ban-us/


3. Zuckerberg, Musk, and Bezos Seated in Front of Cabinet Picks in Trump 
Inauguration

During the ceremony at the Capitol rotunda, tech leaders including 
Meta’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg; Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook; Google’s CEO, Sundar 
Pichai; Amazon’s founder, Jeff Bezos; and Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, 
gathered together.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trumps-inauguration-billionaires-ceos-ambani-zuckerberg-bezos-attend-church-2025-01-20/

____________________________________________

### Recent Statements from our Community ###

1. Pakistan: NWJDR Condemns Ongoing Online Harassment of Journalist

The Network of Women Journalists for Digital Rights (NWJDR) strongly 
condemns the ongoing relentless harassment and gendered disinformation 
campaign against senior female journalist Asma Shirazi by prominent 
political party supporters, political commentators and vloggers.

https://digitalrightsfoundation.pk/nwjdr-condemns-the-ongoing-online-harassment-and-gendered-disinformation-campaign-against-female-journalist-asma-shirazi/ 



2. Ceasefire in Gaza: It’s Time to End Digital Harms and Deliver Justice

Access Now welcomes the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and urges for a 
permanent end of hostilities. All parties must also commit to a “digital 
ceasefire” — an immediate stop to online violence, cyberattacks, and 
deliberate targeting of communication infrastructure which worsen the 
suffering of civilians.

https://www.accessnow.org/press-release/ceasefire-in-gaza-end-digital-harms-deliver-justice/

____________________________________________

### NEW Job Opportunities  ###
________________

TCU’s Digital Rights Job Board is a free service that links individuals 
with digital rights organizations in over 144+ countries. Check out this 
primer that explains how to maximize its use: 
https://www.digitalrights.community/blog/how-to-use-tcu-digital-rights-job-board
_______________

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


✎ Finance Assistant | Paradigm Initiative
+ Hybrid, Nigeria
https://paradigminitiative.bamboohr.com/careers/46

✎ Policy Analyst | The Center for Data Innovation
+ London, United Kingdom
http://datainnovation.org/about/jobs-and-internships/

✎ Program Coordinator, East Asia Programs (Part-time) | NetFreedom Pioneers
+ Remote (Seoul, Korea)
https://www.netfreedompioneers.org/program-coordinator-east-asia-programs-2/

✎ Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist | EngageMedia
+ Remote (South and Southeast Asia)
https://engagemedia.org/job/monitoring-evaluation-learning-specialist/

✎ Senior Program Officer | Freedom House
+ Hybrid, Washington, DC (USA)
https://phe.tbe.taleo.net/phe01/ats/careers/v2/viewRequisition?org=FREEHOUS&cws=39&rid=1479

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

__________________________________________

### Events Calendar ###

Virtual School of Internet Governance
January 14, 2025 - April 1, 2025
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdxElbmLzzGNUpUuoW3jDieHkNZpvO35hhDDlH9-Ia8jwKNww/viewform

ConnectBridge Hackathon
January 24–26, 2025
Deadline to apply: December 10, 2024
Brussels
https://connecthack.org/

Undersea Cables in Africa - New Frontiers for Digital Colonialism 
(Glitter Meetup)
Team CommUNITY
January 30, 2025
9am EST / 2pm UTC
Online
https://wiki.digitalrights.community/index.php?title=January_30_2025_GM

FOSDEM
February 1-2, 2025
https://fosdem.org/2025/

The Social Networking Glitter Meetup (Glitter Meetup)
Team CommUNITY
February 6, 2025
9am EST / 2pm UTC
Online
https://wiki.digitalrights.community/index.php?title=February_6_2025_GM

Human Rights Responsibilities & Challenges for Tech Companies Operating 
in Authoritarian Countries
EngageMedia
February 7, 2025
1pm UTC+7
Online
https://engagemedia.org/events/drapac-series-12-human-rights-tech-companies/

10th Festival of Innovation and Social Technology
February 20, 2025
Bogota + Online
www.fits.ong

What is Happening in Digital Rights Around the World? (Glitter Meetup)
Team CommUNITY
February 20, 2025
9am EST / 2pm UTC
Online
https://wiki.digitalrights.community/index.php?title=February_20_2025_GM

RightsCon
February 24 - 27, 2025
Taiwan
https://www.rightscon.org/registration/

The Hong Kong Accountability Archive (Glitter Meetup)
Team CommUNITY
February 27, 2025
9am EST / 2pm UTC
Online
https://wiki.digitalrights.community/index.php?title=February_27_2025_GM

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

__________________________________________

### 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 


Global Policy Fellowship Program 2025
The Institute for Technology and Society (ITS)
Deadline: January 30, 2025.
https://itsrio.org/en/comunicados/call-for-applications-its-global-policy-fellowship-program-2025/

NGI Zero Commons Fund
Reclaim the Public Nature of the Internet
Deadline: February 1, 2025
https://nlnet.nl/commonsfund/

Digital Threats: Fourth Cyber Investigations Training Course
Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN)
Deadline: February 1, 2025
https://gijn.org/stories/digital-threats-fourth-cyber-investigations-training-course/

Sustainable Protection Fund 2025
Digital Defenders Partnership
Deadline: February 14, 2025
https://www.digitaldefenders.org/sustainable-protection-fund-open-call-for-africa/ 


Digital Freedom Fund
Deadline: February 17, 2025
https://digitalfreedomfund.org/grants/

The Sepal Fund
The Calyx Institute
Deadline: February 19, 2025.
https://calyxinstitute.org/projects/the-sepal-fund

Information Controls Fellowship Program
Open Technology Fund
Deadline: February 28, 2025.
https://www.opentech.fund/fellowships/icfp/

Cross-Border Media Literacy Projects
Deadline: March 6, 2025
https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/funding/call-proposals-cross-border-media-literacy-projects

Reclaim Your Lost Website: Resilience Grant for NGOs, Non-profits, & 
Individuals
https://sutty.nl/en/recovery-form/

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

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

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

Digital Impact Alliance Fellowship​
Deadline: Rolling
https://dial.global/apply-to-our-fellows-program/

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

Apoyos de Respuesta Rápida
Fondo Acción Urgente
Deadline: Rolling
https://fondoaccionurgente.org.co/es/que-hacemos/apoyos-de-respuesta-rapida

Open Briefing’s Responsive Assistance
Deadline: Rolling Basis
https://www.openbriefing.org/support/referral/

__________________________________________

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https://www.digitalrights.community/weekly-newsletter

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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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