Digital Rights Weekly | November 17 to 20

Tue Nov 25 00:13:50 CET 2025

Hello Digital Rights Defenders!

Here is your weekly update on digital rights around the world for the 
week of November 17 to 20 As a reminder, you can submit your news for 
the newsletter here:

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

What is in this issue:

Community News
NEW Job Opportunities
Community Resources
Digital Rights in the Wider World
Events Calendar
Grants, Fellowships, & Awards
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### Community News ###
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1. Digital Freedom Fund Now Open

DFF has an open call for grants to fund strategic litigation in Europe 
that contributes to advancing human rights that relate to the use of 
technology and/or are engaged in the context of digital spaces. (Note, 
they are currently running a pilot of “participatory decision-making”) 
The call for applications will open December 1, with the deadline 
February 17.

https://digitalfreedomfund.org/grants/

2. 10th Edition of the Palestine Digital Activism Forum (PDAF) 2026

The 10th edition of PDAF will take place on March 30 to 31, 2026. Hosted 
by 7amleh - The Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media, this 
year PDAF will examine how narratives about Palestine are produced, 
policed, monetized, and obliterated. It will also equip participants 
with practical tools to reclaim and defend Palestinian agency online and 
to resist erasure in digital spaces.

https://pdaf.net/about-theme

3. The Session Design Lab: December Workshops

FabRiders will be hosting a Session Design Lab on December 10th and 
11th, focused on helping individuals strengthen their ability to design 
workshops, trainings, and meetings that truly engage. The two workshops 
run for three hours each day. They have a pay-what-you-can model with 
recommended contributions.

https://www.fabriders.net/session-design-lab/

4. Policy Lab Africa: Co-Creation Workshops

Policylab Africa is hosting an interactive co-creation workshop 
exploring how digital technologies (AI systems, scoring systems, private 
cameras, surveillance tools, and data extraction) shape people’s lives 
in Nigeria and across Africa. They are looking for people who can think 
critically about technology and who understand, or are keen to engage 
deeply with issues like AI colonialism, digital surveillance, private 
camera misuse, algorithmic scoring, data extraction, and the ways 
digital tools create new forms of exclusion and harm in everyday life. 
Participant insights will inform a collective zine. The first workshop 
is December 10th.

https://forms.gle/6zMusiFhVPUEw5Av8

5. Mente en Línea 2025: A Campaign to Take Care of Ourselves in Digital 
Environments

Excessive use of technology is linked to increased anxiety, depression, 
stress, and other psycho-social risks. The Mental Health on the Internet 
campaign shares resources to help individuals adopt practices that 
promote agile and thoughtful use of technology that benefits our mental 
health. Check out their list of resources including podcasts, 
illustrated fanzines, articles, and research. Get tips for detoxing from 
apps, notifications and screen time, and learn about the effects of dark 
patterns and corporate responsibility, among others.

https://www.tedic.org/en/mente-en-linea-2025-a-campaign-to-take-care-of-ourselves-in-digital-environments/

6. EU: Democracy Shield Must Bolster Independent Media and Protect 
Journalists

On November 13 2025, the European Commission adopted its European 
Democracy Shield, the first comprehensive, flagship strategy for 
strengthening democratic resilience within the bloc, with a key focus on 
free and independent media, fighting disinformation, and creating 
healthier information ecosystems to protect European values and 
security.  In the face of rising digital manipulation, shrinking civic 
space and collapsing media business models, the European Democracy 
Shield offers an important opportunity, but only if turned into concrete 
action. This is what the Media Freedom Rapid Response partnership aims 
to follow.

https://www.article19.org/resources/eu-democracy-shield-must-bolster-independent-media-and-strengthen-democracy/

7. Journalists and LGBTQ+ Groups Targeted Online in Balkans and 
Southeast Europe in September and October

BIRN’s monitors registered a series of digital attacks on media content, 
online harassment of journalists and threats against LGBTQ+ groups 
across the Balkans and Southeast Europe in September and October. They 
found that a combination of technical attacks, political intimidation 
and legal pressure is being used to silence criticism and restrict 
public access to information.

https://balkaninsight.com/2025/11/17/digital-rights-review-journalists-lgbtq-targeted-online-2/

8. Kenya: Authorities Weaponized Social Media and Digital Tools to 
Suppress Gen Z Protests

Kenyan authorities systematically deployed technology-facilitated 
violence as part of a coordinated and sustained campaign to suppress 
Generation Z-led protests between June 2024 and July 2025 against 
corruption and the introduction of new tax legislation, a new Amnesty 
International report shows.

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2025/11/kenyan-weaponized-social-media-and-digital-tools-to-suppress-gen-z-protests/

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### NEW Job Opportunities  ###
__________________________________________

You can access these and other jobs by visiting our job board: 
https://www.digitalrights.community/job-board

✎ Senior Digital and Information Secuirty Specialist, Kamara
+  Remote.

✎ Senior Officer, Programmes,  Paradigm Initiative
+ Cameroon (Yaounde), Kenya (Nairobi), Senegal (Dakar), Zambia (Lusaka), 
Zimbabwe (Bulawayo), The Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria (Lagos, Abuja), 
and Sierra Leone.

✎ Program Coordinator, Technology and Democracy Research Hub,  Rutgers 
Democracy Lab
+  New Brunswick, NJ / Hybrid

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### Community Resources  ###
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1. Digital Rights Are on the Chopping Block in the European Commission’s 
Omnibus

The European Commission launched its proposal for a Digital Omnibus with 
the goal of ‘simplifying” the EU’s digital rulebook to ease compliance 
burdens for industry. Digital rights advocates worst fears have been 
surpassed. The most consequential proposed changes are to GDPR and 
ePrivacy Directive. In addition, also proposed is delaying the entry 
into force of rules for high-risk AI systems by up to 16 months

https://www.techpolicy.press/digital-rights-are-on-the-chopping-block-in-the-european-commissions-omnibus/

Damini Satija, Programme Director at Amnesty Tech, said it will lead to 
“a weakening of people’s rights and expose them to digital oppression” 
Satija also shares that it will open the door to unlawful surveillance, 
discriminatory profiling, and the spread of harmful content online.

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2025/11/eu-digital-omnibus-proposals-will-tear-apart-accountability-on-digital-rights/

2. A Surveillance Mandate Disguised As Child Safety: Why the GUARD Act 
Won't Keep Us Safe

A new bill sponsored by Sen. Hawley (R-MO), Sen. Blumenthal (D-CT), Sen. 
Britt (R-AL), Sen. Warner (D-VA), and Sen. Murphy (D-CT) would require 
AI chatbots to verify all users’ ages, prohibit minors from using AI 
tools, and implement steep criminal penalties for chatbots that promote 
or solicit certain harms. That might sound reasonable at first, but 
behind those talking points lies a sprawling surveillance and censorship 
regime that would reshape how people of all ages use the internet.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/11/surveillance-mandate-disguised-child-safety-why-guard-act-wont-keep-us-safe

3. Biometrics and Digital Identity in Africa

Forty-nine African countries now operate biometric systems, with foreign 
vendors dominating a market that controls the continent’s most sensitive 
identity infrastructure. An estimated half a billion Africans lack 
identity documents, driving governments to deploy biometric systems 
rapidly. Still, weak governance frameworks often mean these technologies 
exclude the very populations they’re intended to serve.

https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/in-depth-research-reports/report/biometrics-and-digital-identity-in-africa/

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### Digital Rights in the Wider World  ###
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1. EFF Sues Feds Over Pressure to Remove ICE Tracker Apps

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has filed a lawsuit against the 
U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security, 
demanding records that could reveal whether federal officials pressured 
technology companies to remove apps documenting immigration enforcement 
activity across the country. The suit comes after multiple platforms — 
including Apple, Google and Meta — took down apps and webpages.

https://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/digital-rights-group-sues-feds-over-pressure-to-remove-ice-tracker-apps-112025.html

Read this primer by ACLU on how app stores enable corporate-government 
censorship

https://www.aclu.org/news/free-speech/app-store-oligopoly

2. Report: Hundreds of English-Language Websites Link to Pro-Kremlin 
Propaganda

Hundreds of English-language websites – from mainstream news outlets to 
fringe blogs – are linking to articles from a pro-Kremlin network 
flooding the internet with disinformation, according to a study by the 
Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD). In more than the 80% of 
citations it analysed, the websites treated the network as a credible 
source, legitimising its narratives and increasing its visibility. The 
disinformation operation – known as the Pravda network – was identified 
by the French government last year.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/nov/21/english-language-websites-link-pro-kremlin-russian-propaganda-pravda-network

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### Events Calendar ###
______________________________________

Did you know you could submit your events for inclusion in our 
newsletter? It takes a few minutes to submit: 
https://www.digitalrights.community/weekly-newsletter

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/

European Young Innovators Festival
November 26 to 28
https://wsa-global.org/events/european-young-innovators-festival/

Taboo Talks: Caring for Those Who Care
Register by November 26. But workshop to take place in January
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeNEPM242m3lsaPfpKxDbm9hunE72pJ1ZSoDbO7q_ApIDXDrg/viewform

SplinterCon 2025
December 8–10, 2025
Paris, France
https://splintercon.net/paris/

The Session Design Lab
December 10 and 11
https://www.fabriders.net/session-design-lab/

Palestine Digital Activism Forum (PDAF) 2026
March 30 to 31, 2026
https://pdaf.net/about-theme

PolicyLab Africa: Co-Creation Workshops
1st workshop: 10th December, 2025
https://forms.gle/6zMusiFhVPUEw5Av8

RightCon 2026
May 5-8
Lusaka, Zambia
https://www.rightscon.org/

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### Grants, Fellowships, & Awards ###
__________________________________________

ACLS Digital Justice Grants
November 20, 2025
https://www.acls.org/programs/acls-digital-justice-grants

NLnet Zero Commons Fund
Deadline: December 1
https://nlnet.nl/commonsfund/

NLnet Fediversity Programme
Deadline: December 1
https://nlnet.nl/fediversity/

John S. Knight Journalism Fellowship
Deadline: December 3
https://jsk.stanford.edu/become-a-fellow#why-apply

Berkman Fellowship
Deadline: December 5.
https://cyber.harvard.edu/getinvolved/fellowships

AI Reporting Grant Program
December 31, 2025
https://pulitzercenter.org/grants-fellowships/opportunities-journalists/ai-reporting-grants

InDiCo-Global. Deadline
Deadline: June 30, 2026
https://indico-global-grants.eu/indico-global-third-open-call

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

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