COVID-19

Promoting and protecting economic, social and cultural rights during the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic
Promoting and protecting economic, social and cultural rights during the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic 01 February 2023 APC

This submission was prepared in response to a call for inputs from the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights for a workshop on promoting and protecting economic, social and cultural rights within the context of addressing inequalities in the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

GISWatch 2021-2022 Sneak Peek! Read a selection of full-length reports on our digital futures post-pandemic
GISWatch 2021-2022 Sneak Peek! Read a selection of full-length reports on our digital futures post-pandemic 22 November 2022 Various

The 2021-2022 edition of Global Information Society Watch (GISWatch) will be officially launching at the IGF next month, and this is your chance to have a first look at full-length reports in this special GISWatch 2021-2022 Sneak Peek!

Disruptive technologies, surveillance as governance: Data (un)democracy in India during COVID-19
Disruptive technologies, surveillance as governance: Data (un)democracy in India during COVID-19 17 November 2022 Preeti Raghunath

India’s focus on a deterministic and ideological usage of technology to manage the COVID-19 health crisis has not only mismanaged the pandemic, but has pushed the country to contend with Orwellian realities.

Digital authoritarianism in Bangladesh: Weaponising a draconian law to silence dissent in the pandemic era
Digital authoritarianism in Bangladesh: Weaponising a draconian law to silence dissent in the pandemic era 10 November 2022 Zayed Siddiki

The COVID-19 pandemic provided the government with pretext to censor free speech, harass critics, and effectively curb dissent – accelerating what has been an ongoing turn towards authoritarianism in Bangladesh.

Seeding change: Times of “technostress” call for increased mental health self-care
Seeding change: Times of “technostress” call for increased mental health self-care 28 October 2022 Leila Nachawati

Digital technologies play an increasingly central role in our lives and have a major impact on our mental health. TEDIC, an APC member in Paraguay, takes this as its starting point when working on "technostress", a phenomenon affecting an ever growing percentage of the population.

A COVID-19 power grab: Looming digital authoritarianism in Indonesia
A COVID-19 power grab: Looming digital authoritarianism in Indonesia 25 October 2022 Damar Juniarto

In Indonesia, a rise in hard-line approaches to governance is heralding looming authoritarianism. The COVID-19 pandemic has provided the government there with the opportunity to further accelerate digital authoritarianism through online surveillance, censorship and online manipulation.

Policing the pandemic: Australia’s technology response to COVID-19
Policing the pandemic: Australia’s technology response to COVID-19 23 September 2022 Samantha Floreani

Australia adopted a range of technology-based responses to address the COVID-19 pandemic, but this approach resulted in “solutions” that ranged from the outright ineffective to the actively punitive.

Risking health for mobility? Limitations of Indonesia’s pandemic management tool
Risking health for mobility? Limitations of Indonesia’s pandemic management tool 14 September 2022 EngageMedia guest writer

Governments around the world have resorted to apps to restrict freedom of movement for the unvaccinated as part of their COVID-19 response. Some argue that the use of such tools drives up vaccination rates, but sceptics point out that these tools pose risks to privacy and digital security.

How the economically marginalised navigate digital adoption in India amid the pandemic
How the economically marginalised navigate digital adoption in India amid the pandemic 23 August 2022 Vaishnavi and Anish Mishra

The push for digitisation during the pandemic – whether for health management or to keep daily activities going amid lockdowns – deepened the digital divide in India, since escalated digital adoption without adequate policy protections can exclude the already marginalised even more.

Vietnam’s Zalo Connect: Digital authoritarianism in peer-to-peer aid platforms
Vietnam’s Zalo Connect: Digital authoritarianism in peer-to-peer aid platforms 22 August 2022 Trang Le

The Zalo Connect app in Vietnam connects users in need with private donors. But in doing so, it exemplifies a humanitarian trend that centres on extracting data from vulnerable communities as a precondition to receiving aid, protection and justice.

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