Freedom of expression
We, the undersigned, view with extreme concern the unwarranted arrest of Rappler’s chief executive officer Maria Ressa on Wednesday, 13 February 2019, based on libel charges arising from a story published almost seven years ago by the online news site. These charges had initially been dismissed as baseless by the same public institution that is now instrumental in the prosecution of her case. We note that Ms. Ressa’s arrest was effected around 5:00 p.m., at the close of business hou...
After the arrest of Award-winning Philippine journalist and Rappler CEO Maria Ressa, APC member Foundation for Media Alternatives (FMA) published the following statement (also published on their website). As of 14 February, Ressa has been freed on bail, a day after her arrest on charges of "cyber-libel" drew international condemnation. FMA denounces the arrest of Rappler CEO Maria Ressa. As advocates of human rights and communication rights, FMA stands by press freedo...
Dear Members of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs The undersigned organizations and individuals are dedicated to ensuring justice for human rights abuses around the world and to upholding human rights, including the right to freedom of expression. We rely on online platforms to both find and share evidence of these abuses and to counter official misinformation from repr...
Re: Internet shutdown in Zimbabwe Your Excellency Minister Kazembe Kazembe, Minister of Information and Communication Technology and Cyber Security We are writing to urgently request that you ensure the stability and openness of the internet in Zimbabwe. We have received reports that your government has shut down the internet. On behalf of the more than 170 organizations from over 60 countries ...
As we start 2019, we want to remember the human rights defenders from our community who are currently facing prison, disappeared or have been killed in retaliation for their work. Among them, we are particularly concerned about the fate of Egyptian free speech activists in the context of increased authoritarianism and repression under the current Egyptian regime, including renowned human rights...
To: Sundar Pichai, Chief Executive Officer, Google Inc cc: Ben Gomes, Vice President of Search; Kent Walker, Senior Vice President of Global Affairs; Scott Beaumont, Vice President, Greater China and Korea 11 December 2018 Dear Mr. Pichai, We are writing to ask you to ensure that Google drops Project Dragonfly and any plans to launch a censored search app in China, and to re-affirm the compan...
3 December, 2018. Dear <<First Name>> <<Last Name>>, The Proposal for the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market has been analysed and criticised by many human rights and digital rights organisations. We point to Article 13 as one of the most problematic parts of the proposed Directive. In the last few months, there have been some positive developments regar...
Your Excellency Deputy Ambassador, We, the undersigned, are writing to you ahead of the 23 November COREPER 1 meeting, at which copyright in the Digital Single Market will be discussed by the Austrian Council Presidency. We consider that it is too early at this stage to give a renewed mandate to the Austrian Presidency. Representing human, privacy, civil rights and media freedom organisations, ...
Dear Mark Zuckerberg: What do the Philadelphia Museum of Art, a Danish member of parliament, and a news anchor from the Philippines have in common? They have all been subject to a misapplication of Facebook’s Community Standards. But unlike the average user, each of these individuals and entities received media attention, were able to reach Facebook staff and, in some cas...
This year’s Global Information Society Watch (GISWatch) focuses on community networks. Community networks are “communication networks built, owned, operated, and used by citizens in a participatory and open manner.” This is a starting point. As the 43 country reports gathered here show, in practice, “community networks” can be hybrid systems, with different political and practical obj...
Association for Progressive Communications (APC) 2018
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