Canada

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.

At the first WSIS+10 review event in Paris, France from February 25 – 27, 2013, APC is organising an event on Enhanced Cooperation as a follow-up to its pre-event at the 2012 IGF “Enhanced Cooperation: from deadlock to dialogue” and will use the opportunity of the WSIS+10 review to bring together experts in a follow-up workshop, “Reflections on what needs to be done.R...

While hidden cameras can document and flag human rights abuses by authoritarian governments, these same videos can then be used to identify dissidents who are later detained and tortured, explains David Sasaki in his introduction to this year’s Global Information Society Watch, which focuses on transparency and accountability online.

The Association for Progressive Communications today released a new resource “Digital security first-aid kit for human rights defenders.” It is an interactive website publication available online at http://rights.apc.org/infosec

In and interview with Anriette Esterhuysen and Alan Finlay, David Souter of the International Institute for Sustainable Development explores the key issues around ICTs and environmental sustainability as part of a series of papers meant to inform and stimulate discussion and debate on the relationship between information and communication technologies (ICTs), the internet and sustainability.

Recent acts of violence against teenage girls Amanda Todd and Malala Yousafzai have sparked discussion about the internet’s role in perpetuating violence against women. One of the ways APC has been working to end technology-based violence against women is through a new mapping project that will help document such cases.    

It is not uncommon for women and girl techies to be patronised, harassed or discouraged by male colleagues. The @AsikanaNetwork is a group of women in technology who want to provide support for each other and help further their skills in a safe environment.

This special edition of Global Information Society Watch 2011, “Internet rights and democratisation: focus on freedom of expression and association online” features updates from six countries on the state of internet rights and an introduction from the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Jillian York.