Internet rights are human rights
This position paper outlines APC's current thinking on the pandemic. It identifies several key, interrelated issues that require attention by governments, the private sector and civil society.
APC and other civil society organisations marked the conclusion of the UN General Assembly's 76th Third Committee session with these observations on both thematic and country-specific resolutions. We urge all states to implement the commitments made in these resolutions to their full extent.
APC will engage in five days of multistakeholder dialogue on how technology can support democracy and human rights, through leading two sessions and sharing remarks during the opening and closing plenaries of the event.
When discussions around access to the internet are raised, our thoughts turn to whether we have sufficiently solved the issues of poverty, health, education and energy to decide that internet access is a needed right in Africa. But COVID-19 has changed our view of the need for connectivity.
We want people, especially those facing discrimination and oppression, to have greater power and autonomy through digital technologies to exercise their full range of human rights online and offline. Check out our achievements in this area in 2020.
Concerned about how digital technologies bring new challenges to fighting censorship, APC member EsLaRed has been defending access to information and freedom of expression in restrictive environments, with a recent study focusing on communication blockades in Venezuela.
The aim of this brief is to support the implementation of the agreed language in the United Nations Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG) resolution pertaining to stakeholder engagement.
The Alliance for Encryption in Latin America and the Caribbean, of which APC forms part, responds to our belief that a regional pro-encryption agenda will contribute to guaranteeing the development of the internet ecosystem together with the exercise of democracy and respect for human rights.
In commemoration of the inaugural Global Encryption Day, the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) has published a policy brief that highlights restrictions to encryption and what needs to be done by governments in Africa to promote its use.
On Global Encryption Day, APC joined with over 150 other organisations to call on governments and the private sector to reject efforts to undermine encryption and instead pursue policies that enhance, strengthen and promote use of strong encryption to protect people everywhere.
Association for Progressive Communications (APC) 2020
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