Access

The research report "Bottom-up Connectivity Strategies: Community-led small-scale telecommunication infrastructure networks in the global South" explores the benefits of, and challenges facing, small-scale, community-based connectivity projects. Here we look at the motivations behind the research.

In the face of a rising number of attacks on journalists in Bangladesh, Voices for Interactive Choice and Empowerment (VOICE), an APC member organisation, hosted a day-long media training workshop to discuss the challenges faced by journalists and explore solutions for this growing problem.

APC and the Myanmar ICT for Development Organization thank the Special Rapporteur for her report on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, particularly for highlighting how ICTs are being leveraged to perpetuate violations against religious minorities such as the Rohingya.

APC’s priorities at this HRC session include gender and privacy online, freedom of religion or belief, and the criminalisation of human rights defenders, journalists and digital security and tech expertise, as well as highlighting violations of internet rights in countries like India and Myanmar.

APC outlines positions on some of the areas covered in the digital strategies presented by the European Commission that will undoubtedly set a key precedent for global discussions on issues such as regulating platforms, data governance and artificial intelligence.

New research about Palestinian access to e-commerce highlights how occupation, failure to fulfill the Oslo Accords and digital discrimination have stunted the development of the Palestinian economy and created challenges for Palestinian buyers, sellers and workers online.

In this week's column, David Souter explores how in the digital world we often assume that digital access improves access to services. And so it does – for most people in most cases, but not for all in all. Those designing policies and plans for digital access to public (and private) services should remember always that the real aim is access to services not digitalisation, he states.

APC joined this call on the government of Togo to ensure that the internet, including social media and other communication channels, remains open, secure and accessible before, during and after the upcoming presidential elections.