Digital Rights Weekly | July 21 - 25
Team CommUNITY
team at digitalrights.community
Thu Jul 24 14:25:34 CEST 2025
Hello Digital Rights Defenders!
Here is your weekly update on digital rights around the world for the week of July 21 - 25. As a reminder, you can submit your news for the newsletter here:
https://www.digitalrights.community/weekly-newsletter
What is in this issue:
Team CommUNITY
Community News
NEW Job Opportunities
Community Resources
Digital Rights in the Wider World
Statements from Our Community
Events Calendar
Grants, Fellowships, & Awards
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### Team CommUNITY (TCU News) ###
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1. Upcoming Digital Rights Town Halls and Community Knowledge Shares:
July 30 | Cybersecurity with Chinese Characteristics (Digital Rights Asia Meetup)
https://wiki.digitalrights.community/index.php?title=July_30_2025,_Asia_Meetup
July 31 | The Power and Relevance of Humanizing Tech and Digital Rights Through Storytelling
https://wiki.digitalrights.community/index.php?title=July_31_2025_GM
2. IFEX: Getting to Know Their Work in Freedom of Expression
IFEX is a global network of over 100 member organizations across 70 countries, dedicated to promoting and defending freedom of expression as a fundamental human right. We talked with their Executive Director, Rachael Kay, to learn more about their history, members, and key initiatives.
https://www.digitalrights.community/blog/community-series-ifex
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### Community News ###
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1. The US Just Logged Off from Internet Freedom, The Case for Europe’s Backing of Digital Civil Society Groups
The US has gutted the very infrastructure it once built to defend Internet freedom. DRL’s flagship Internet freedom program is gone. Funding for open-source encryption tools has been zeroed out while support for journalists and activists in repressive environments has vanished. Unless another coalition emerges to carry that torch, the world may soon be governed by a different digital logic: one that prioritizes order over openness, security over freedom, and state power over individual rights. If that happens, the Internet as we know it—the Internet as a space of shared, decentralized, democratic possibility—may become a historical anomaly.
https://www.techpolicy.press/the-us-just-logged-off-from-internet-freedom/
The European Commission announced proposals on July 16 — collectively worth €1.8 trillion between 2028 and 2034. Europeans need to step into the void left by the recent pullback by their US counterparts to fund digital groups. EU officials should use the upcoming EU budget negotiations to rethink how funds are allocated to these groups.
https://www.techpolicy.press/the-case-for-europes-backing-of-digital-civil-society-groups/
2. Request for Proposal for Digital Security and Holistic Protection Training
The Equality Fund is seeking a consultancy team to provide training that supports grantee partners in advancing their digital security and holistic protection. The training will be implemented between September 2025 - January 2026 with a budget of $60,000 - $80,000 CAD. Deadline to apply: August 10, 2025.
https://equalityfund.bamboohr.com/careers/103
3. Applications For The WSA Young Innovators Award 2025 Are Open!
The WSA Young Innovators Award is an open call for digital solutions (applications, projects, or products) driving positive change, created by young people under the age of 26 from all UN and UNESCO member states. Deadline to apply: October 31, 2025.
https://wsa-global.org/wsa_categories/wsa-young-innovators/
4. Swiss AI Initiative Support
Alps by the National Supercomputing Center (CSCS) is the world's first national research infrastructure with over 10,000 GPUs of the new NVIDIA Grace Hopper superchip. The Swiss AI Initiative is distributing 10-20 million of these GPU hours in 2025 for disruptive research projects that benefit society through open calls. Researchers outside of Switzerland are encouraged to apply if they team up with at least one of their PIs.
https://www.swiss-ai.org/
5. The Official DRAPAC25 Program is Now Live!
The 2025 program for Digital Rights in Asia Pacific (DRAPAC25) is now live. The agenda has more than 40 activities that reflect this year’s themes of collective digital futures: power, resilience, and imagination. To access the program, you must login to their platform:
https://drap.ac/25/activities/
6. Programa de Pasantías Para la Seguridad y Resiliencia Digital en América Latina
Derechos Digitales anuncia el llamado al programa de pasantías “Seguridad y resiliencia digital en América Latina”. El programa convoca a personas que históricamente han sido marginadas de la discusión sobre los desarrollos tecnológicos y que tengan experiencia en la seguridad digital, a postular. La persona seleccionada debe tener nacionalidad y residencia en un país de América Latina o del Caribe, tendrá una compensación de USD 2000 mensuales, y la oportunidad de participar de un evento internacional. Cierre de postulaciones: 15 de agosto, 2025.
https://www.derechosdigitales.org/25638/nueva-convocatoria-al-programa-de-pasantias-para-la-seguridad-y-resiliencia-digital-en-america-latina/
7. Reports From Our Community:
a) 7amleh Releases New Study: War and Digital Shadows: Palestinian Women Between Voice Confiscation and Body Exposure in Digital Space
The study focuses on gender-based digital violence targeting Palestinian women amid the ongoing genocide in Gaza, where such violence is used as a tool of repression and control, undermining women’s presence and rights to expression and participation.
https://7amleh.org/post/7amleh-releases-new-study:-%E2%80%9Cwar-and-digital-shadows:-palestinian-women-between-voice-confiscation-and-body-exposure-in-digital-space%E2%80%9D
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### NEW Job Opportunities ###
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✎ Senior IT Security Specialist | Open Society
+ London or Johannesburg
https://osfglobal.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/OSF/details/Senior-IT-Security-Specialist_JR-0003724
✎ CEO | Current AI
+ Paris, France
https://www.currentai.org/vacancy-ceo-current-ai
✎ Frontend Engineer, Public Spaces Incubator | New_ Public
+ Remote in USA
https://newpublic.org/jobs/creative-technologist
✎ Research professor in Media Platforms & Society | Faculty of Social Sciences of KU Leuven
+ Leuven, Belgium
https://www.kuleuven.be/personeel/jobsite/jobs/60450100?lang=en
✎ Fundraising Consultant | Rights Exposure
+ Not Specified
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/robgodden_calling-fundraising-consultants-we-are-hiring-activity-7351591205144522753-P4EM/
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### Community Resources ###
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1. AI Safety Index Summer 2025
The Future of Life Institute's AI Safety Index provides an independent assessment of seven leading AI companies' efforts to manage both immediate harms and catastrophic risks from advanced AI systems. Conducted with an expert review panel of distinguished AI researchers and governance specialists, this second evaluation reveals an industry struggling to keep pace with its own rapid capability advances—with critical gaps in risk management and safety planning that threaten our ability to control increasingly powerful AI systems.
https://futureoflife.org/ai-safety-index-summer-2025/
2. Digital ID Systems in Africa: A Dream of Inclusion or a Threat to Privacy?
Across Africa, governments are rapidly rolling out digital ID systems to improve service delivery, foster economic inclusion, and enhance security. From Kenya's Maisha Namba to Nigeria's National Identification Number (NIN), millions use these programs for healthcare, education, and finance. However, an estimated 500 million Africans still lack legal identification.
https://globalvoices.org/2025/04/21/digital-id-systems-in-africa-a-dream-of-inclusion-or-a-threat-to-privacy/
3. How Kenyans Are Using AI during protests
Over the past year, Kenyan activists have transformed AI from a speculative novelty into a vital civic instrument, democratizing information, amplifying marginalized voices, and building resilient networks under pressure.
https://globalvoices.org/2025/07/12/how-kenyans-are-using-ai-during-protests/
4. The Lesson From Gaza is Clear: When AI-powered Machines Control Who Lives, Human Rights Die
In an interview with CIVICUS, Palestinian lawyer Dima Samaro reveals how Israel’s use of experimental AI systems in Gaza—from automated kill lists to biometric checkpoints and facial scans controlling access to humanitarian aid—is enabling automated genocide and normalizing a new era of AI-driven warfare without oversight, accountability, or robust regulation.
https://lens.civicus.org/interview/the-lesson-from-gaza-is-clear-when-ai-powered-machines-control-who-lives-human-rights-die/
5. Portuguese Edition: A Practical Guide to Exercising Your Digital Rights in Brazil
Do you know what to do if a company uses your data without consent? Or how to request its deletion? The Data Subject Manual, developed by Data Privacy Brasil, offers clear answers and concrete tools so anyone can exercise their rights under the General Data Protection Law (LGPD). With simple explanations, request templates, and step-by-step guidance, this resource is an essential tool for defending your privacy against online abuse in Brazil.
https://dataprivacy.com.br/manual-do-titular/
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### Digital Rights in the Wider World ###
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1. Russia Gearing up to Prosecute Internet Users for Searching ‘Extremist’ Content
The Russian State Duma is currently considering a bill that would introduce fines for accessing or searching for “extremist” online content. On July 17 the bill passed its second reading, and if passed, would go into effect on September 1. It represents one of “the most massive example of chilling effect in the history” of the Russian internet.
https://cpj.org/2025/07/russia-gearing-up-to-prosecute-internet-users-for-searching-extremist-content/
2. Internet Cuts Cost Iran Tech Jobs And $170m in Losses, Minister Says
Iran’s Minister of Communications reported a 30% drop in the digital economy and a 150 trillion rial (about $170 million) loss in just one month, attributing the blow to widespread internet restrictions imposed during the country’s 12-day conflict with Israel.
https://www.iranintl.com/en/202507222387
3. Myanmar’s Digital Crackdown is Worsening: The World is Stepping Back
The fallout from the March 2025 earthquake - one of the worst in Myanmar’s history - has collided with a deepening authoritarian playbook, compounding years of conflict and repression. Communications blackouts, surveillance systems, biometric ID schemes, and social media manipulation are becoming more entrenched than ever before. The escalation is taking place against a backdrop of shifting global alliances and shrinking civic space.
https://www.techpolicy.press/myanmars-digital-crackdown-is-worsening-the-world-is-stepping-back/
4. Meta Investors, Zuckerberg Reach Settlement to End $8 Billion Trial Over Facebook Privacy Violations
Mark Zuckerberg and current and former directors and officers of Meta Platforms agreed to settle claims seeking $8 billion for the damage they allegedly caused the company by allowing repeated violations of Facebook users' privacy, a lawyer for the shareholders told a Delaware judge.
https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/meta-investors-zuckerberg-reach-settlement-end-8-billion-trial-over-facebook-2025-07-17/
5. Civil Society Files Joint DSA Complaint Against X for Targeting People With Ads Using Their Sensitive Personal Data
Nine civil society organisations, including EDRi, submitted a complaint against X for violating the Digital Services Act (DSA) by using people’s sensitive personal data (like political opinions, sexual orientation, religious beliefs and health conditions) for targeted ads. Together, they are calling for Digital Services Coordinators and the European Commission to promptly investigate X, and hold it accountable for undermining users’ fundamental rights.
https://edri.org/our-work/civil-society-files-joint-dsa-complaint-against-x-for-targeting-people-with-ads-using-their-sensitive-personal-data/
6. A Major AI Training Data Set Contains Millions of Examples of Personal Data
Millions of images of passports, credit cards, birth certificates, and other documents containing personally identifiable information are likely included in one of the biggest open-source AI training sets, new research has found.
https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/07/18/1120466/a-major-ai-training-data-set-contains-millions-of-examples-of-personal-data/
7. Can An ‘Ethical’ Spyware Maker Justify Providing Its Tech to ICE?
Paragon, an Israeli spyware company that claims to operate as an “ethical” surveillance vendor, faced scrutiny when earlier this year Italy was caught using Paragon’s tools to spy on the phones of two journalists. Paragon responded by cutting Italy off from its surveillance products, becoming the first spyware company to ever publicly name one of its customers after the misuse of its products. Now, Paragon might face a new ethical dilemma: whether or not it will allow ICE agents to use its spyware.
https://techcrunch.com/2025/07/11/can-an-ethical-spyware-maker-provide-its-tech-to-ice/
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### Statements from Our Community ###
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1. #KeepItOn: Togolese Authorities Must Uphold Human Rights Online and Off During Protests
The undersigned organisations and members of the #KeepItOn coalition — a global network of over 345 organisations from 105 countries working to end internet shutdowns — strongly condemn the recent brutal crackdown on fundamental rights and freedoms by Togolese authorities amid recent protests across the country. Protests in Togo escalated on June 26, 2025, with swaths of people calling for the resignation of the country’s president, Faure Gnassingbe, following recent constitutional reforms that abolished presidential elections, consolidated his 20-year rule, and indefinitely extended his term.
https://www.accessnow.org/press-release/keepiton-togolese-authorities-must-uphold-human-rights-online-and-off-during-protests/
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### Events Calendar ###
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South-to-South AI Accountability CoLab
The Pulitzer Center
June - July, 2025
https://pulitzercenter.org/south-south-ai-accountability-colabs-peer-learning-circle
2025 Oxford Media Policy Summer Institute
Jesus College, Oxford
July 28 - August 8, 2025
https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/oxford-media-policy-summer-institute
Cybersecurity with Chinese Characteristics (Digital Rights Asia Meetup)
Team CommUNITY
July 30, 2025
4pm Taiwan Time / 8am UTC
Online
https://wiki.digitalrights.community/index.php?title=July_30_2025,_Asia_Meetup
The Power and Relevance of Humanizing Tech and Digital Rights Through Storytelling (Glitter Meetup)
Team CommUNITY
July 31, 2025
9am EDT /1pm UTC
Online
https://wiki.digitalrights.community/index.php?title=July_31_2025_GM
HOPE_16
August 15 - 17, 2025
St. John's University in Queens, New York City, and online
https://hope.net/
The Digital Rights Asia-Pacific Assembly (DRAPAC)
August 26 - 27, 2025
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
https://drapac.net/25/
Online Course: Threat Sharing and Digital Forensics from a Feminist and Human Rights Perspective
Digital Defenders Partnership
September - December, 2025
https://www.digitaldefenders.org/online-course-threat-sharing-and-digital-forensics-from-a-feminist-and-human-rights-perspective/
Global Gathering 2025
Team CommUNITY
September 8 - 10, 2025
Estoril, Portugal
https://www.digitalrights.community/blog/2025-global-gathering-application
MyData 2025 Conference
Helsinki
September 24 - 26, 2025
https://conference.mydata.org/2025
Hold Before You Send It
Digihub Africa 2025
October 8 - 9, 2025
Johannesburg, South Africa
https://www.digihubafrica.org/events/
SEEDIG Youth School 2025
October 10 - 11, 2025
Athens, Greece
https://seedig.net/youth-school/
Bread&Net
SMEX
October 29 - 31
Beirut, Lebanon
https://breadandnet.org/
Mozilla Festival 2025
November 7 - 9, 2025
In Barcelona, Spain
https://www.mozillafestival.org/en/
Check out a list of our virtual events here:
https://wiki.digitalrights.community/index.php?title=Calendar_of_Events
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### Grants, Fellowships, & Awards ###
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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 Women in Data Science Fellowship
African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD)
Deadline: July 31, 2025
https://awardfellowships.org/news/call-for-applications-now-open-for-the-inaugural-cohort-of-the-african-women-in-data-science-fellowship-2025/
Feminist Digital Security and Holistic Protection Training
Deadline: August 10, 2025
https://equalityfund.bamboohr.com/careers/103
Pulitzer Center’s AI Accountability Fellowships
Deadline: August 11, 2025
https://pulitzercenter.org/blog/open-call-proposals-pulitzer-centers-ai-accountability-fellowships-2025-2026
Pasantías Para la Seguridad y Resiliencia Digital en América Latina
Derechos Digitales
Cierre de postulaciones: 15 de agosto, 2025
https://www.derechosdigitales.org/25638/nueva-convocatoria-al-programa-de-pasantias-para-la-seguridad-y-resiliencia-digital-en-america-latina/
Imperial College Research Fellowships
Deadline: August 18, 2025
https://www.imperial.ac.uk/research-and-innovation/research-office/funder-information/research-fellowships/icrf/
Connecting the Unconnected Funding Program
Internet Society
Deadline: August 27, 2025
https://www.internetsociety.org/funding-areas/connecting-the-unconnected
Digital Democracy Centre x TrygFonden Fellowship Program
Deadline: September 15, 2025
https://www.sdu.dk/en/forskning/forskningsenheder/samf/digitaldemocracycentre/ddcxtrygfonden-fellowship-call-2026
WSA Young Innovators Award 2025
Deadline: October 31, 2025
https://wsa-global.org/wsa_categories/wsa-young-innovators/
Are you looking for grants, fellowships and funds open on a rolling basis? We curate a long list of opportunities on our wiki: https://wiki.digitalrights.community/index.php?title=Fundraising_Opportunities
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