For those of us who have access to it, the internet has become an essential part of our daily information and communication needs. However millions of people still do not have affordable, reliable or sufficient connectivity. APC believes the internet is a global public good. Founded in 1990, we are an international network and non-profit organisation that wants everyone to have access to a free and open internet to improve our lives and create a more just world.

What people say about APC / What the media says about APC

Press release: Freedom of expression and hate speech continue to dominate internet rights discourse at UPR

BOGOTÁ 21 May 2013 (Shawna Finnegan for APCNews)

Between 22 April and 3 May 2013, the UN Human Rights Council held the 16th session of its Universal Periodic Review. APC, together with its members and partners, developed submissions for the inclusion of internet-related human rights issues in the recommendations made for the reviews of Azerbaijan, Cameroon, Canada and Colombia.

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World Telecommunications/ICT Policy Forum: Closing statement by civil society

17 May 2013 (AL for APCNews)

From 14-16 May the World Telecommunication/ICT Policy Forum took place in Geneva. APC and other civil society representatives presented a closing statement calling on the International Telecommunication Union and all participating governments to ensure transparency, openness and inclusivity in their policy processes. Read the statement.

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New coalition to TPP negotiators: This is what a Fair Deal looks like

MONTREAL 16 May 2013 (MK for APCNews)

Today, APC along with a coalition of organisations representing a diversity of interests have come together from around the world to ask for A Fair Deal on intellectual property (IP) in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP). Click to read our joint press release.

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APCNews interviews Alex Comninos on developing a cybersecurity agenda for civil society

BOGOTA 16 May 2013 (Shawna Finnegan for APCNews)

APC has released a new issue paper, “A cyber security agenda for civil society: what is at stake?” For the release of this issue paper, author Alex Comninos spoke with APC’s Shawna Finnegan about cybersecurity, ICTs for human security and conflict prevention, and the challenges faced by civil society.

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WSIS Forum: Dialogue on integrating gender equality, women's empowerment and ICT

PERGAMINO 15 May 2013 (FF for APCNews)

Many gender equality and women’s empowerment related events are taking place at the World Summit on the Information Society Forum in Geneva. Jac sm Kee from APC Women’s Rights Programme participated in the High Level Dialogue on “Women’s Empowerment in the Information Society: Systemic, Scalable Strategies.”

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2013 WSIS Forum: Events on gender equality and women’s empowerment

GENEVA 13 May 2013 (AL for APCNews)

If you are planning to attend the World Summit on the Information Society Forum taking place from May 13-17 in Geneva, either in person or remotely, here you can find a compilation of all the events focusing on women’s rights.

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APC at the World Summit on the Information Society Forum 2013

GENEVA 13 May 2013 (AL for APCNews)

The ICT for development community is gathering in Geneva from 13-17 May 2013 to discuss the implementation of WSIS documents and principles. Read more about APC’s participation in the Geneva meetings.

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World Telecommunications/ICT Policy Forum: Civil society calls for an open and participatory internet policy making

NYC 10 May 2013 (AL for APCNews)

APC will participate in the upcoming World Telecommunication/ICT Policy Forum, taking place in Geneva from 14-16 May. APC endorses statements submitted by members of civil society involved in the process, and calls the International Telecommunications Union to consider them as a key input for the Forum. Read the documents.

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Women in the Information Society: Participating in development and ICT policy

10 May 2013 (Dafne Sabanes Plou for Info 25)

One of the main complaints by women during the discussions at the World Summit on the Information Society focused on the need for more women to participate in decisions about the development of the Internet, and the discussion and implementation of public policies aimed at building an inclusive information society, without discrimination based on gender or any other grounds.

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UN Working Group report addresses tech-related violence against women

PERGAMINO 10 May 2013 (FF for APCNews)

The UN Working Group on Discrimination Against Women in Law and Public Life launched its thematic report, which received inputs from various stakeholders, among them APC. The final report reflects how women are participating online, some of the ways in which discrimination is taking place and the impact of that discrimination.

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“Yes, this happened to me”: Making progress toward recognition of technology related violence

7 May 2013 (FF for APCNews)

APC and its seven country partners have achieved milestones after their first year of work on the project “End violence: Women’s rights and safety online.” APCNews interviewed Jan Moolman, project coordinator, about the main highlights of this first year and the challenges and expectations for the year ahead.

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Freenet? film project launched in Brazil examines internet rights

MONTREAL 3 May 2013 (MK for APCNews)

“Who controls the web? On whose behalf? How free are we really to access content?” These are questions that are being asked and answered by a global, crowd-sourced film project. Instituto Nupef, APC member in Brazil, has launched a collaborative documentary film project.

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APC trains participants in internet rights policy at the Hivos workshop “IG in the MENA Region”

2 May 2013 (Mawaki Chango for APCNews)

At a workshop on internet governance in the MENA region, held from 16 to 19 March 2013 in Tunis, APC presented “IG and Policy: Anchoring and Safeguarding internet Openness in the Middle East and North Africa,” a workshop on civil society engagement in IG and public policy.

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UN member states must hold Azerbaijan to account for deteriorating human rights situation

GENEVA 30 April 2013 (ARTICLE 19)

The International Partnership Group on Azerbaijan, of which APC is a member organisation, urges the UN to hold Azerbaijan to account during its Universal Periodic Review (UPR) for its failure to protect basic human rights.

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CIVICUS publishes state of civil society report 2013

29 April 2013 (AG for APCNews)

CIVICUS just launched its State of Civil Society report for 2013, “Creating an enabling environment for civil society.” APC contributed a section of the report on the state of the internet from a civil society perspective.

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Featured publications

  • Global Information Society Watch 2012

    GISWatch 2012 explores how the internet is being used to ensure transparency and accountability, the challenges that civil society activists face in fighting corruption, and when the internet fails as an enabler of a transparent and fair society.

  • Going visible: Women’s rights on the internet

    Women may not have been an active part of policy-­making conversations when internet governance started, but the rapid pace of change online means they need to participate now to ensure that the future of the internet is shaped taking into account women’s rights. This paper was developed by the Women´s Rights Programme as part of the global thematic consultation “Addressing inequalities – The Heart of the Post-2015 Development Agenda and the Future We Want for All”.

  • GISWatch 2011 Special Edition 2

    This publication is a follow-up to the 2011 edition of Global Information Society Watch (GISWatch), an annual report that offers a civil society perspective on critical emerging issues in information societies worldwide. The theme for GISWatch 2011 was internet rights and democratisation, with a focus on freedom of expression and association online.

  • GISWatch 2011 Special Edition 1

    The 2011 edition of the Global Information Society Watch, titled “Internet Rights and Democratization: focus on freedom of expression and association online” has published the first in a series of updates on six country reports. This special edition contains updates from Argentina, Azerbaijan, Indonesia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and South Africa as well as an introduction from the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Jillian York.

  • Communicating research for influence: Strategies and challenges for bringing about change

    We designed this manual based on our success stories and challenges in communicating research for influence. We translated our knowledge and expertise into tips that other organisations or campaigners may find useful.

  • Impact 2.0: New mechanisms for linking research and policy

    This publication is the result of the work done in the project Impact 2.0 between 2010 and 2011, coordinated by Fundación Comunica, supported by APC and financed by IDRC. From the participant projects, it can be concluded that the most successful uses of web 2.0 and online social networking to connect research and policy were those that involved the public in campaigns and consultations.

  • Freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of association and the internet

    Demonstrations in the middle-east and student protests in Chile or Quebec have shown that the internet can augment the capacity of citizens to form associations and organise protests. Campaigning through websites, microblogging and other uses of technology help increase the membership and reach of associations, provide powerful ways to organise peaceful assemblies online and on the streets. This issue paper by Alex Comninos sheds a new light on how the internet impacts the exercise of the right to freedom of association and freedom of assembly.

  • A practical guide to sustainable IT

    This practical guide to sustainable IT offers a detailed, “hands-on” introduction to thinking about sustainable computing holistically; starting with the choices you make when buying technology, through to the software and peripherals you use, how you store and work with information, manage your security, save power, and maintain and dispose of your old hardware.

  • Application of ICTs for climate change adaptation in the water sector (Executive Summary)

    This collection of reports looks at how ICTs can be used to help communities in developing countries facing water stress adapt to climate change by from an ICT4D perspective.

  • Pro-poor ICT access toolkit

    A resource kit for making a universal access agenda happen. It has three modules – on policy and regulation, advocacy strategies and community-level projects.

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