News
Press release: Freedom of expression and hate speech continue to dominate internet rights discourse at UPR
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.
World Telecommunications/ICT Policy Forum: Closing statement by civil society
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.
New coalition to TPP negotiators: This is what a Fair Deal looks like
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.
APCNews interviews Alex Comninos on developing a cybersecurity agenda for civil society
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.
WSIS Forum: Dialogue on integrating gender equality, women's empowerment and ICT
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.”
2013 WSIS Forum: Events on gender equality and women’s empowerment
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.
APC at the World Summit on the Information Society Forum 2013
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.
World Telecommunications/ICT Policy Forum: Civil society calls for an open and participatory internet policy making
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.
Women in the Information Society: Participating in development and ICT policy
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.
UN Working Group report addresses tech-related violence against women
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.
“Yes, this happened to me”: Making progress toward recognition of technology related violence
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.
Freenet? film project launched in Brazil examines internet rights
“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.
APC trains participants in internet rights policy at the Hivos workshop “IG in the MENA Region”
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.
UN member states must hold Azerbaijan to account for deteriorating human rights situation
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.
CIVICUS publishes state of civil society report 2013
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.
Bytes for All challenges censorship and surveillance in Pakistani court
To publicly challenge increasing censorship, surveillance and internet filtering in Pakistan, APC member Bytes for All, and Media Legal Defense Imitative lodged a petition in the Lahore High Court in January 2013 claiming that the bans imposed on various websites were in blatant violation of civil and political rights.
Internet and corruption: GISWatch 2012 print edition now available
Two of the most recent print editions of Global Information Society Watch are now available for on-demand ordering. Activists, academics and policy makers are encouraged to order copies of “Internet rights and democratisation” and “The internet and corruption” through a new, online service.
The Guardian hosts live debate Thursday 11 April on ICTs and social justice
This Thursday at 12:00 UTC, Jennifer Radloff, Connect Your Rights! project coordinator will be joining an expert panel to discuss how social justice organisations use ICTs in their work and the digital security risks involved. The event is open to anyone registered at www.guardian.co.uk and can also be followed on Twitter at #globaldevlive.
APC reports on eLAC outcomes from Montevideo IV Ministerial Conference
Last week, APC attended the Fourth Ministerial Conference on the Information Society in Montevideo, Uruguay, organized by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean and attended a pre-event on Open Development: Exploring the future of the information society in LAC. Download and read the Declaration and Plan of action.
'Human rights and the internet' multimedia training kit released
APC presents a Multimedia training kit on human rights and the internet, a set of modules concerned with the relationship between human rights, information and communications technologies (ICTs) and the internet. These modules can be used freely to help those who work on human rights and ICTs to understand how the internet is affecting the protection of rights.
