Human rights and ICTs
This position paper was prepared as part of 7amleh's advocacy work, focused on defending Palestinian digital rights. It is a part of a series of position papers examining the effects of the policies and practices of governments and companies on Palestinian digital rights.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, countries are resorting other measures that may have the incidental effect of concentrating power to a few, providing an opportunity for authoritarian leaders to consolidate the government’s might in order to stifle some essential freedoms.
The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified our need for a safe and secure internet. This article explores what happened at the original epicentre of the pandemic and what measures of internet censorship were deemed necessary by the Chinese government to bring it under control.
The Bilal Bagh protests in India snowballed from an all-women sit-in to a highly disciplined, non-violent revolution, even as it headed on a collision course with the Indian state and, as the government claimed, the COVID-19 virus.
In these exceptional times, APC wishes to send our solidarity and appreciation for connecting with us. While we are distancing ourselves physically, we continue to stay closer than ever to each other and share tools and resources as well as support.
In this joint statement, APC and other civil society organisations, lawyers, journalists and activists call on the Egyptian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Alaa Abdel Fattah, our courageous friend, human rights activist and blogger.
The Forum for Freedom of Expression, Bangladesh, of which APC member VOICE is part, expresses deep concern over the series of attacks on journalists during the 30 days of countrywide lockdown imposed by the government for containment of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Renowned Egyptian blogger and political prisoner Alaa Abdel Fattah started a hunger strike on 30 March in Cairo’s Tora maximum security prison to protest the dire conditions in Egypt’s jails and the ban on family visits amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
On April 22, researcher and government critic Ravio Patra was arrested in Jakarta, Indonesia, not long after an attempt to protect his safety due to a WhatsApp privacy breach, prompting a larger discussion on the scale of authoritarian oppression in Indonesia.
The Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET) warns of the proliferation of COVID-19-related fake news on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and WhatsApp, as well as other ways in which misinformation is spread in rural areas.
Association for Progressive Communications (APC) 2020
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