Human rights and ICTs
The UN General Assembly's 73rd session passed a record number of resolutions relevant for internet policy. This article outlines developments in the First Committee, relating to international norms in cyberspace, and the Third Committee, covering a range of internet-related human rights issues.
This paper focuses on the human rights impacts of recent initiatives in three countries (Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania) to “tax” the internet through introducing excise duties on, essentially, internet access and/or use.
The project, code-named Dragonfly, is reportedly in development and would be designed to meet the censorship requirements of the Chinese government.
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 company’s 2010 commitment that it won’t provide censored search services in the country.
Human rights and digital rights organisations, including APC, have sent an open letter to EU decision makers asking them to add human rights safeguards to the proposed Copyright Directive on the Digital Single Market throughout the negotiation process.
This submission highlights the impact of the policies and practices of internet intermediaries on the ability of women and LGBTIQ communities to access, shape and use ICTs, in the context of the full realisation of their human rights. It focuses on two thematic areas: online GBV and sexual rights.
Work on the project to define Internet Universality Indicators was led for UNESCO by the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) on behalf of the Internet Indicators Consortium, which included, apart from APC, ict Development Associates, Research ICT Africa and LIRNEasia.
With its appearance at the Committee, South Africa has recognised the essential role of access to the internet as an enabler of rights. It is critical for the government to continue to engage with civil society and other stakeholders to advance rights-based approaches to internet access.
APC congratulates Karen Banks for being recognised with the Oxford Internet Institute Lifetime Achievement Award 2018 for her extraordinary, unique and long-lasting contributions towards the development, use and study of the internet for the public good.
The undersigned civil society organizations, call on Facebook to provide a mechanism for all of its users to appeal content restrictions, and, in every case, to have the appealed decision re-reviewed by a human moderator.
Association for Progressive Communications (APC) 2022
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