Internet rights are human rights

7amleh has released a new research report about YouTube’s violations of Palestinian digital rights, as part of a series that focuses on violations of Palestinian digital rights and digital discrimination against Palestinians by international technology companies.

APC joined dozens of other organisations and researchers to call on social media companies to enable future research and analysis about the “infodemic” side of COVID-19 by preserving information about what their systems are automatically blocking and taking down.

The open letter, signed by APC and other civil society organisations, emphasises the fundamental importance of ensuring transparency and adequately assessing the human rights impact of any public-private partnerships that the UN may enter into, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This report, commissioned by Global Affairs Canada and co-published by the Association for Progressive Communications and the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, explores how multilateral cybersecurity processes can incorporate a gender perspective into future work.

In a crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important that people are able to obtain information that will help them stay safe and aware of an evolving situation, and initiatives like these are crucial for reducing the traditional barriers to information that prevent global access.

The context of how artificial intelligence affects our rights as digital natives is worth unpacking, especially during political and public health crises, where online communication is a lifeline for many, and citizens are possibly being subjected to government surveillance and manipulation.

Many nations are considering proposals to use digital technologies to confront the COVID-19 pandemic. This joint statement calls on the OECD to ensure the protection of privacy and other fundamental human rights in the use of these technologies.

Over 100 organisations from around the world signed a joint statement stressing that digital surveillance to fight COVID-19 can only be justified if it respects human rights, and setting out conditions that must be met before the use of surveillance technology to fight the pandemic.