Digital Rights Weekly | June 22 to 26
Team CommUNITY
team at digitalrights.community
Mon Jun 22 18:48:14 CEST 2026
Hello Digital Rights Defenders!
Here is your weekly update on digital rights around the world for the
week of June 22 to 26. As a reminder, you can submit your news for the
newsletter here:
https://www.digitalrights.community/weekly-newsletter
___________________
What is in this issue:
TCU
Community News
NEW Job Opportunities
Digital Rights in the Wider World
Community Resources
Events Calendar
Grants, Fellowships, & Awards
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### TCU ###
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1. June 30 REALLY is the Hard Deadline to Apply for the Global Gathering
The hard deadline to submit an application for the Global Gathering is
June 30. If you need to bring a partner or spouse to the GG to support
childcare, they must also submit an application before this date—do not
run the risk that their application is not approved because it was not
submitted on time.
https://gathering.digitalrights.community/
https://wiki.digitalrights.community/index.php?title=2026_Global_Gathering_Programming
2. June 18 Answering Your Global Gathering Questions, Improving Security
Knowledge
During our next Digital Rights Social (DRS) on June 18, TCU staff will
answer all your questions about the Global Gathering, and provide
guidance on developing program proposals. We will also be hosting a
virtual Security Clinic where you can ask any questions you may have
about your or your organization’s security. DRSs are text-based chats
that take place virtually on TCU’s Mattermost. Follow these instructions
to request an account:
https://wiki.digitalrights.community/index.php?title=TCU_Mattermost
__________________________________________
### Community News ###
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1. MataSEA Seeking Pitches on Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based
Violence (TFGBV) Stories
MataZine is a project by MataSEA, a newly established Southeast Asia
feminist tech collective. They are currently accepting pitches for
stories on experiences of technology-facilitated gender-based violence
(TFGBV) in Southeast Asia. Submissions can come in the format of
articles, essays, poems, comics, and illustrations, and be written in
Thai, Indonesian, Burmese, Malay, English, Vietnamese, and Filipino.
They will pay 300 USD for selected submissions.
https://matasea.space/2026/06/11/call-for-pitches-matazine-vol-1/
2. Air Community Meetup Wed | June 24
The team behind the secure messenger Air is hosting a casual
get-together on June 24th in Berlin at a beer garden. The event starts
at 18:30. Registration is required.
https://pretix.eu/phoenixrd/air-meetup-1/
Learn more about the team behind Air here:
https://www.digitalrights.community/blog/community-series-phoenixrd
3. Wiki Women Skill Up Workshop | June 20
Africa Wiki Women is hosting an online public speaking workshop aimed at
strengthening communication skills, confidence, and advocacy abilities,
particularly for women involved in Wikimedia and digital rights spaces.
The session is open to both new and experienced participants. The
workshop will take place on June 20 at 15:00 UTC via Zoom. Registration
is required:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Event:Africa_Wiki_Women_Skill_Up_Workshop_2026/Juin
4. New Report: Abortion Access Denied
OONI and Women on Web co-published a new research report investigating
the global censorship of Women on Web—the first ever online
international abortion care provider. In their analysis, they collected
OONI data from November 1 2025 to April 1, 2026, which revealed the
blocking of Women of Web domains in 7 countries: Iran, Türkiye, the
Philippines, South Korea, Spain, Kuwait, and Argentina. Check out the
full findings:
https://ooni.org/post/2026-women-on-web-blocked/
5. National Coalition Against Censorship Launches New Resource for
Artists Facing Censorship
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) has launched The
Artist’s Guide to Defending Artistic Freedom, a new resource for artists
and cultural workers. Focusing on censorship prevention and response
strategies, the Guide empowers artists to defend their free expression
rights. It offers negotiation tactics and talking points that can help
artists make a case for the retention of a contested creative work.
https://ncac.org/news/artists-guide-defending-artistic-freedom-2
6. New Report: Understanding and Analyzing Tactics and Narratives of
TFGBV during the Iraqi Parliament Elections November 2025
INSM Foundation for Digital Rights, in collaboration with Democracy
Reporting International (DRI) and the Jordan Open Source Association
(JOSA), has published a new report. It examines how how
technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV) targeted women
candidates during the 2025 Iraqi parliamentary elections, including
coordinated harassment, sexualized disinformation, moral shaming, and
narratives questioning women’s political competence and legitimacy.
https://insm-iq.org/en/?p=1789
7. Turkey: IPI Condemns Increasing Use of Arbitrary Court Orders to
Censor Independent Journalism
Turkish authorities must end the use of arbitrary court orders citing
bogus “national security” and “public order” concerns to censor
journalistic social media accounts and news content, the International
Press Institute (IPI) has said. In a recent case, Turkish courts issued
three successive blocking orders in three days. The first censored news
articles relating to an investigative case; the second order then banned
reporting about the court order; while the third then finally blocked
even basic coverage of the previous censorship measures. IPI said the
triple access-blocking orders were a glaring example of the high levels
of the judicial censorship of independent journalism in Turkey, which
has continued to worsen in recent years.
https://ipi.media/turkey-ipi-condemns-increasing-use-of-arbitrary-court-orders-to-censor-independent-journalism/
8. Citizen Lab Researcher Luis Fernando García On State Surveillance in
Latin America
Check out this video of Citizen Lab researcher Luis Fernando Garcia
talking about the state of surveillance in Latin America, including the
abuse of spyware, mass surveillance, and advertising intelligence by
governments across the region.
https://citizenlab.ca/luis-fernando-garcia-on-state-surveillance-in-latin-america/
_________________________________________
### NEW Job Opportunities ###
__________________________________________
These are new jobs we have received in the past week. You can access
these and other jobs by visiting our job board:
https://www.digitalrights.community/job-board
+ Digital Protection Coordinator for Eastern Europe and Central Asia,
Front Line Defenders
- Eastern Europe and Central Asia
+ Digital Coordinator, EMILYs List
- Washington DC
+ Technology Fellow: AI and Philanthropy, Ford Foundation
- New York, NY
+ Technology Fellow: Digital Safety and Security, Ford Foundation
- New York, NY
+ Data Scientist, C4ADS
- Washington, D.C
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### Digital Rights in the Wider World ###
______________________________________
1. Putin’s Paranoia: AI Espionage Pushes Kremlin to Reinforce Security
Measures
Russia’s security services temporarily disconnected a special
surveillance system protecting Putin and his close circle in the wake of
the US-Israeli killing of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,
the Financial Times reported. The assassination showed how artificial
intelligence (AI) can process millions of hours of videos from thousands
of cameras “to extract patterns and secrets at an industrial scale.” The
incident highlights the heightened security threat of AI video analysis
for the Russian leadership, said Ksenia Ermoshina, a senior researcher
at the Center for Internet and Society of the CNRS.
https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20260615-putin-s-paranoia-ai-espionage-pushes-kremlin-to-reinforce-security-measures
You can check out the FT article here, though its behind a paywall
https://www.ft.com/content/6f4d806c-eb22-4c32-8352-b82692d30e9f?syn-25a6b1a6=1
2. Spyware Firm Targeted WhatsApp Users in Defiance of US Court Order,
Meta Says. Files Contempt of Court
A spyware firm has been targeting WhatsApp users with malicious links in
contravention of a US court order forbidding it from doing so, Meta has
said. In a post, Meta said WhatsApp had “caught and disrupted spear
phishing attempts” by NSO Group, which a spokesperson said targeted a
handful of users in Jordan and Lebanon. It had also caught the group
creating “test accounts and groups” on WhatsApp. They have filed a
contempt of court against the NSO Group.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jun/09/spyware-firm-targeted-whatsapp-users-defiance-us-court-order-meta-says
https://www.cdr-news.com/categories/litigation/meta-files-contempt-of-court-order-against-shady-israeli-spyware-company/
3. Meta Tapped a Pentagon Supplier to Prototype Face Recognition for Its
Glasses
Meta is testing face-recognition software built by a company that sells
surveillance tools to police departments and the United States military,
as it explores bringing the technology to its smart glasses, WIRED has
learned. The arrangement is documented in a software license, obtained
by WIRED, that was issued by Rank One Computing—a Denver-based company
that derives roughly 80 percent of its revenue from government
clients—and is tied to a test version of the Meta AI app that powers
Meta's Ray-Ban and Oakley smart glasses.
https://www.wired.com/story/meta-rank-one-computing-face-recognition-smart-glasses/
4. In the US, the FCC Wants to Kill Burner Phones By Forcing Telecoms to
Get All Customers’ IDs
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) wants to make it effectively
impossible for people to buy what many call burner phones—a phone not
explicitly linked to your identity at the point of purchase—which would
impact privacy-conscious people, to domestic abuse survivors, to
journalists, and many more. The FCC plans to do this by legally forcing
the country’s telecoms to store a wealth of personal information about
essentially all phone customers, including a government issued
identification number and their physical address, alarming privacy
advocates and civil rights activists who compare the measures to those
from authoritarian countries where it can be difficult to buy a mobile
phone plan without giving up your identity.
https://www.404media.co/fcc-wants-to-kill-burner-phones-by-forcing-telecoms-to-get-all-customers-ids/
5. The Paradox of Kenya’s Rising Digital Rights Compliance Score
Kenya’s digital landscape in 2025 presents a startling contradiction: a
nation that is simultaneously building a world-class legal framework for
digital rights while presiding over some of the most concerning physical
crackdowns on online expression in a decade. The Londa 2025 report,
published by the Paradigm Initiative, awarded Kenya a higher compliance
score of 37 out of 60 even as the lived reality for activists and
bloggers turned increasingly perilous
https://streamlinefeed.co.ke/news/the-paradox-of-kenyas-rising-digital-rights-compliance-score
For example, recently bloggers and social media commentators in Murang'a
County find themselves the target of an aggressive police crackdown,
resulting in waves of arrests. Human rights defenders and constitutional
lawyers warn that the sweep is a thinly veiled attempt to silence
political dissent and intimidate grassroots journalists who expose local
governance failures.
https://streamlinefeed.co.ke/news/inside-the-sweeping-police-crackdown-on-bloggers-in-murang-a-county
6. From Prisons to Algorithms: Vietnam and the Evolution of Political
Control in the Digital Age
The development of contemporary civil society in Vietnam is closely tied
to the rise of the internet. Since then, Vietnam’s approach to
controlling dissent has evolved from imprisoning activists and bloggers
to using digital tools, cybersecurity laws, online surveillance, and
platform pressure to shape public discourse and encourage self-censorship.
https://www.pressenza.com/2026/06/from-prisons-to-algorithms-vietnam-and-the-evolution-of-political-control-in-the-digital-age/
7. Europe Will Regulate Ray-Ban Meta Glasses Over Surveillance Risk
European authorities are working to set limits on Ray-Ban Meta smart
glasses due to the risks they pose in terms of mass surveillance and
privacy. These glasses, very popular for their combination of technology
and fashion, can capture videos and personal data without the user or
those affected being aware, a fact that especially worries regulatory
institutions and digital rights advocacy organizations.
https://www.modernetdigital.cat/en/articulo/tech/europe-would-regulate-ray-ban-glasses-due-to-surveillance-risk/20260611001142014232.html
8. Canada Seeks Stronger Privacy Rights Through New Digital Governance Law
The Canadian government has introduced the Protecting Privacy and
Consumer Data Act, a major legislative proposal designed to modernise
the country’s private-sector privacy framework and strengthen
protections in an increasingly AI-driven digital environment. According
to the government, Canada’s existing privacy legislation was developed
more than 25 years ago and no longer reflects technological realities
such as AI, automated decision-making systems, deepfakes and the
large-scale collection of children’s data.
https://dig.watch/updates/canada-seeks-stronger-privacy-rights-through-new-digital-governance-law
9. Queer Organisations Take Meta To Court Over Alleged Instagram Censorship
Several organisations and digital rights groups in the Netherlands have
launched legal action against Meta, accusing the tech giant of
unlawfully censoring queer communities through the mass removal of
LGBTQI+ Instagram accounts. The case is being led by global NGO Repro
Uncensored and Dutch digital rights organisation Bits of Freedom,
following a wave of account suspensions affecting queer organisations,
nightlife venues, artists, activists and sexual health educators across
the Netherlands.
https://gayexpress.co.nz/2026/06/queer-organisations-take-meta-to-court-over-alleged-instagram-censorship/
10. Hackers Publish Knicks and Madison Square Garden Data Online
Hackers have published data stolen from Madison Square Garden (MSG)
online for anyone to download, including what they say is customers’
personal information. The venue utilizes AI-powered facial recognition
cameras to ban individuals considered persona non grata by MSG owner
James Dolan.
https://www.404media.co/hackers-publish-knicks-and-madison-square-garden-data-online/
______________________________________
### Community Resources ###
______________________________________
1. Hidden Spyware Use in War May Be More Widespread Than We Realize
Mobile phone spyware has been used on several occasions during wartime
in recent years. Originally marketed as a tool for combating terrorism
and serious crime, spyware has increasingly appeared in military and
intelligence operations around the world. Check out this list of
publicly documented cases and claims involving the deployment of spyware
during armed conflicts in recent years.
https://www.techpolicy.press/hidden-spyware-use-in-war-may-be-more-widespread-than-we-realize/
2. Military-grade AI: The Future of Civilian Surveillance?
Much of the dialogue around military use of AI in warfare focuses on
questions of human oversight. However, this assumes that AI has a
legitimate role in making decisions that can end thousands of lives. But
these systems are consistently faulty, repeat the biases in their
training data, and cannot be properly checked.
https://digitalrightswatch.org.au/2026/06/15/military-grade-ai-the-future-of-civilian-surveillance/
3. When the EU Fights the Wrong Online Battle
Greece, France, England and Spain have made it clear: the likes of
Instagram, Twitter and TikTok are dangerous town squares, where kids
shouldn’t be spending their childhood. The EU has been on it for years,
with the so-called CSAR (Child Sex Abuse Regulation). But is it the
right approach?
https://www.brusselstimes.com/2184597/when-the-european-union-fights-the-wrong-online-battle
4. How Israel's Media Turned Good Journalists Into Agents of Self-censorship
A mix of government pressure, populist attacks, and internalized
self-censorship is influencing the way Israeli journalists report on
Gaza. Dr. Ayala Panievsky has an answer to this terrible failure.
https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2026-06-15/ty-article-opinion/how-israels-media-turned-good-journalists-into-agents-of-self-censorship/0000019e-c600-de4f-a5de-feb7b7ef0000
_____________________________________
### 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
Additionally, we maintain a calendar of events in our wiki:
https://wiki.digitalrights.community/index.php?title=Calendar_of_Events
Community-Organized Alternative RightsCon's Internet Shutdown Track
June 17-18
Register: https://connectionlabs.network.
For the password to enter, please contact hello at connectionlabs.network
Digital Rights Social / Focus: Security Clinic Best Practices and Q&A
June 18, 2026 @ 14 UTC
TCU's Mattermost
https://wiki.digitalrights.community/index.php?title=Community_Updates
Wiki Women Skill Up Workshop
June 20
Online
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Event:Africa_Wiki_Women_Skill_Up_Workshop_2026/Juin
Global Media Forum
June 23 and 24, 2026
Bonn Germany
https://corporate.dw.com/en/gmf-2026-your-ideas-deserve-the-spotlight/a-75222151
Fight for Us, Not for Them Event
June 23
Brussels and Online
https://edri.org/our-work/announcing-the-summit-fight-for-us-not-for-them-a-public-interest-vision-for-eu-tech-policy/
Air Community Meetup
June 24
Berlin
https://pretix.eu/phoenixrd/air-meetup-1/
All Things in Moderation 2026: Call for Contributions
June 25 to 26
Online and on demand
https://www.allthingsinmoderation.org/call-for-contributions
Digital Rights Social / Focus: Organizational Sustainability and Resilience
July 16, 2026 @ 14 UTC
TCU's Mattermost
https://wiki.digitalrights.community/index.php?title=Community_Updates
Free and Open Communications on the Internet (FOCI)
July 20, 2026
Hybrid, co-located with PETS in Calgary, Canada
https://foci.community/
Global Gathering
September 4 to 6, 2026
Portugal
https://www.digitalrights.community/blog/applications/global-gathering-2026-applications-open
Forum on Internet Freedom in Africa (FIFAfrica)
September 28 to October 1
Mauritius
https://internetfreedom.africa
Trust and Safety Research Conference 2026
October 1–2, 2026
Currently accepting proposals here:
https://cyber.fsi.stanford.edu/trust-and-safety-research-conference
Circuit Breaker 26
October 17-18
New York
https://techworkerscoalition.org/circuit-breakers/
Digital Commons:Infrastructures, Design, and the Ethics of Autonomy
October 8 to 10
Athens, Greece
www.digicommons.org
__________________________________________
### Grants, Fellowships, & Awards ###
__________________________________________
Lebanese Journalists At Risk or Pressure
No Deadline
https://www.skeyesmedia.org/en/News/News/07-04-2026/13133
Promoting Inclusive Digital Services in Kyrgyzstan
Deadline: June 2
https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/prospect-details/185902PROSPECTSEN
Interledger Fellowship Program
Deadline: June 15
https://interledger.org/grant/fellowship
LaborTech’s Book, Grad Student Paper, and Social Justice Awards
Deadline: June 15.
https://labortechresearchnetwork.org/awards
Digital Justice Fund
You must register on the platform by May 24, and submit an application
by June 21
https://apply.hypha.digitalfreedomfund.org/
InDiCo-Global. Deadline
Deadline: June 30, 2026
https://indico-global-grants.eu/indico-global-third-open-call
AI Accountability Fellowship from the Pulitzer Center
Deadline: July 12.
https://pulitzercenter.org/grants-fellowships/opportunities-journalists/ai-accountability-fellowships
Cross-Border Collaborative Investigations on the Impact of AI
July 22
https://www.freepressunlimited.org/en/current/grants-cross-border-collaborative-investigations-impact-ai
__________________________________________
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