Issue papers

Business and digital rights: Taking stock of the UN Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights in the ICT sector
Business and digital rights: Taking stock of the UN Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights in the ICT sector 13 June 2016 David Sullivan

This issue paper takes stock of the implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in the ICT sector,  in terms of state responsibility to protect human rights, corporate responsibility to respect rights, and access to effective remedy when rights have been violated.  

Challenges to civil society participation in internet governance in the MENA region
Challenges to civil society participation in internet governance in the MENA region 25 May 2016 Mohammad Tarakiyee

This issue paper links challenges to civil participation in internet governance in the Middle East and North Africa and the state of internet rights in the region with civil society advocacy strategies, as well as providing some recommendations, with a focus on Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon.  

Digital safety in context: Perspectives on digital security training and human rights realities in the Arab world
Digital safety in context: Perspectives on digital security training and human rights realities in the Arab world 19 May 2016 Reem Almasri

This research aims to highlight the links between the efforts of digital security trainings in the Arab region with the human rights realities, focusing on Morocco and Palestine. It is part of APC’s project Building a culture of online human rights and digital security in the Maghreb-Machrek region.

Digital rights advocacy in the Arab world and the Universal Periodic Review
Digital rights advocacy in the Arab world and the Universal Periodic Review 01 May 2016 Wafa Ben Hassine

This report explores how local groups in the Maghreb and Machrek regions are engaged in internet-related rights advocacy at the national and regional levels, and how that reflects upon the inclusion of these issues in the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process.  

Women’s rights, gender and Internet governance
Women’s rights, gender and Internet governance 05 November 2015 Avri Doria

This issue paper addresses the degree to which gender and women’s rights feature in Internet governance, in multiple interconnected ways including, but certainly not limited to, access, content and representation. Gender and women’s rights occupy a largely rhetorical role in today’s discussion of Internet governance.

African Declaration on Internet Rights and Freedoms - Background Paper
African Declaration on Internet Rights and Freedoms - Background Paper 24 March 2015 Eric Mazango

This paper provides background to the context, issues and trends in internet regulation and internet rights so as to stimulate further reflection on the importance of freedom of the internet in Africa, especially in the face of growing controversies over the governance of cyberspace.

A cyber security agenda for civil society: What is at stake?
A cyber security agenda for civil society: What is at stake? 03 May 2013 Alex Comninos

This paper introduces some important conceptual issues in cybersecurity, investigates some important cybersecurity threats, and provides suggestions on what a civil society approach to cybersecurity should look like.

Human rights and Internet protocols: Comparing processes and principles
Human rights and Internet protocols: Comparing processes and principles 13 December 2012 Joy Liddicoat and Avri Doria

The Internet is a network that empowers at the edges, rather that the centre, rendering it a profoundly democratic and rights-fostering platform. Human rights are principles that seek to empower those at the margins rather than at the centre of power, rendering them a fundamentally empowering framework for individuals. This paper explores human rights and Internet protocols by comparing the pro...

Freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of association and the internet
Freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of association and the internet 09 August 2012 Alex Comninos

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. Thi...

Voices from digital spaces: Technology-related violence against women (Executive Summary)
Voices from digital spaces: Technology-related violence against women (Executive Summary) 19 April 2012 APC WNSP

Drawing on findings from APC’s MDG3: Take Back the Tech!i project with women’s rights organisations in twelve countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, this paper explores the links between the internet, cell phones and violence against women and illustrates that technology related violence impacts women as seriously as other forms of violence.

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