Closer than ever
APC understands that we are all dealing with unprecedented circumstances as we face the challenges, fear and uncertainty brought on by the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. We know it impacts our work, our personal lives and the lives of those we care about. Each country is tackling the situation differently, so the contexts we find ourselves in are as diverse as the ways we find to navigate shifting conditions.
In these exceptional times, we wish 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. We also want to examine how we can continue to promote human rights online in the context of a global pandemic. We are all facing this problem together but we know it affects different countries and communities in different ways. Therefore, we would like to channel the strength of our network to share some important resources that we hope will be empowering, enlightening and reassuring.
Below you will find articles and insights shared by our community, which has been working on human rights and technology issues for over 30 years. We will be updating these lists on a regular basis, so please feel free to connect with us if you have some resources to share.
In terms of the expansion of 5G technology, there are big public policy implications , which are about national resources as well as digital investment.
The world is suddenly and radically changed, but it is not the radical change we had hoped for. Here we share what we believe is important for us to continue working towards a feminist internet as a part of our collective and hopeful futures.
APC joined dozens of other organisations and researchers to call on social media companies to enable future research and analysis about the “infodemic” side of COVID-19 by preserving information about what their systems are automatically blocking and taking down.
The open letter, signed by APC and other civil society organisations, emphasises the fundamental importance of ensuring transparency and adequately assessing the human rights impact of any public-private partnerships that the UN may enter into, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
While social media sites tend to respond slowly or not at all to misinformation on their platforms, during the COVID-19 pandemic, many have taken steps to address and stop the spread of misinformation, as well as to steer users towards reliable sources of information and support.
Voices for Interactive Choice and Empowerment (VOICE), an APC member organisation in Bangladesh, argues that an inclusive approach featuring all sectors of society is required to beat COVID-19.
With the COVID-19 pandemic, people everywhere are asked to cease physical interactions and the internet has become the lifeline for the work of human rights defenders currently working from home. What does this mean in Uganda, a country with low internet access?
Millions have turned spare rooms (if they have them) into home offices and now spend their days in Zoom chats and on Microsoft Teams in virtual rather than physical proximity with their co-workers. How’s that going? And what questions should we ask?
Digital Empowerment Foundation argues that free talk time and internet are crucial to help India's migrant works during the pandemic.
This is a compilation of articles and other resources and initiatives featured by the Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF), an APC member organisation, in their latest newsletter.
Association for Progressive Communications (APC) 2022
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