Freedom of expression
Among the more than a dozen reports from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights that were discussed last week at the Human Rights Council (HRC), one addressed a topic very relevant to internet policy and regulation: how to protect and promote human rights while preventing and countering violent extremism. Aside from being one of the most significant challenges to the enjoyment of human rights, peace, and security today, countering violent extremism (CVE) and protecting human rights defende...
With the increasing use of the internet in various aspects of daily life as well as for the exercise of fundamental freedoms, it is critical that governments fulfil their obligation to promote and protect human rights online. However, in Pakistan, many of the restrictions imposed on rights enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), such as freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and association, the right to privacy, as well as other rights, are being ex...
Cyberspace has given the queer woman a chance to problematise the existing gender and sexual identities which, like any identity, are not static. It allows her to create and occupy spaces which will give her freedom and power in a way that the misogynistic physical world cannot provide. The very act of creating a profile online portraying your real self is an act of defiance against the existin...
Pakistan’s new and controversial cyber crime bill is poised to become a law after the National Assembly passed it today. The bill now has the approval of both the upper and lower house of the Parliament and requires only the presidential signature before formally being enacted as a law. Media Matters for Democracy, Bytes for All, Pakistan and the Association for Progressive Communications (AP...
Topics include ‘zero rating’ and net neutrality; state surveillance; public dissatisfaction with Facebook and creating alternatives; and how the internet, capitalism, communications and the link to broader struggles for rights, justice and humanity. Anja Kovacs directs the Internet Democracy Project in Delhi, India, which works for an Internet that supports free speech, democracy and social...
The OECD ministerial meeting on the digital economy currently taking place in Cancún, Mexico is a forum on public policies that shape the global economy. The aims are to promote innovation, growth and social prosperity. However, this important international event occurs in a critical social and political context for the Mexican government. The incidents in Oaxaca must not be overlooked while M...
Joint written statement submitted by the Association for Progressive Communications to the 32nd session of the Human Rights Council: State of Internet Rights in India, Malaysia and Pakistan With the increasing use of the internet for the exercise of freedom of expression and exchange of opinion globally, governments must fulfill their obligation to promote and protect human rights online. Howev...
The Association for Progressive Communications (APC) welcomes the report of the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, David Kaye, which focuses on the critical issue of the role of the information and communications technology (ICT) sector in the promotion and protection of freedom of opinion and expression. Kaye’s report, whi...
In August 2015, a series of DDoS attacks that lasted for weeks targeted reproductive rights organisations in the United States. Websites including those of the National Network of Abortion Funds were inaccessible for mere hours due to the diligence and outspoken support of May First/People Link (MFPL), an internet service provider (ISP) for the progressive left in the US and Mexico. The attacks...
Association for Progressive Communications (APC) 2017
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