cybersecurity
In March 2021, shortly before the elections scheduled for August, then Zambian president Edgar Lungu quickly signed and enacted three internet-related laws, one of which has remained especially problematic into 2022: the Cyber Security and Cyber Crimes Act.
The toll of unrestrained cyber operations on human security mounts daily and as such, discussions and decisions arising from the relevant UN processes need to address them more effectively. These efforts should be guided by human-centric and rights-based approaches.
APC's statement at the OEWG dedicated stakeholder session also notes that it is encouraging to see the inclusion of language connected with narrowing the digital divide and a growing number of states calling for a gender-sensitive approach to international cybersecurity.
APC is attending the third substantive session of the UN Open-ended Working Group on developments in the field of information and telecommunications in the context of international security 2021-2025 (OEWG II), taking place this week, from 25 to 29 July, in-person in New York.
In this submission to the third substantive session of the UN Open-Ended Working Group on the security of, and in the use of, information and communications technologies (OEWG), APC addresses some of the recommended next steps outlined in the draft progress report.
These APC priorities were reiterated in a statement delivered at the informal dialogue with the Chair of the UN Open-ended Working Group on developments in the field of information and telecommunications in the context of international security (OEWG) 2021-2025.
Fraud is now the commonest crime in the UK, and most of it is online. Cybercrime and cybersecurity have become some of the biggest problems in digital policy development, and we need to think broader and listen to victims to be able to respond to them.
The 10th edition of the African School on Internet Governance (AfriSIG) will take place from 16 to 18 July and will focus on international cybersecurity. It will be held as a pre-event to the African Internet Governance Forum to be held in Lilongwe, Malawi.
Civil society organisations have an important role in making sure that cyber capacity building is informed by human rights, following one of the capacity-building guiding principles in the previous OEWG final report.
Women and girls as well as people of diverse sexualities and gender expressions are more often the targets of online violence, and are increasingly targeted by disinformation campaigns, which can have a more severe impact on these groups because of historical and structural inequalities.

Association for Progressive Communications (APC) 2022
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