Access to information

For the past few months, India has been at the centre of a devastating breakdown of public health institutions and is currently experiencing a severe public health crisis due to the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

As the second wave of COVID-19 hits Indian cities, rural India is also experiencing a rise in numbers, which could become a catastrophe of unimaginable scale if ignored. In response, DEF has launched an ICT-enabled and community-specific relief programme.

In an increasingly digitised world, safeguarding data rights has become central to protecting individuals’ rights to access and share information, express themselves, and associate using the internet and related platforms.

This study sought to explore the impact of the recent internet shutdown on journalists during the election period in Uganda. It further captures specific journalist experiences of the internet shutdown on their work both in the city and countryside.

#Hashtag Palestine 2020 is 7amleh’s sixth annual review of key digital rights issues facing Palestinians living in the occupied Palestinian territory and Israel, drawing on events that took place from January through December 2020.

When countries invoke peripheral laws such as pharmaceutical violations or conscientious objection clauses as justification for blocking, restricting, or limiting abortion access, they are invariably creating additional barriers, not upholding legal integrity.

We call on governments, industry, multilateral institutions, civil society and international financial institutions to close the digital divide by putting people at the centre of our approach to achieving meaningful connectivity for everyone.

In this #BreadandNet 2020 session, Sacha Robehmed from the International Rescue Committee (IRC) discusses the role of online platforms in connecting organisations to individuals, while maintaining online privacy and security.