Internet rights
How are feminists engaging with the internet politically and personally? What started out as a useful tool to support our activism is now a critical part of our organizing and must also be part of our political agenda. As technology developments increasingly impact rights and social justice, we must influence and build alliances with movements calling for a free and open internet, unconditional access, freedom of expression, and the right to holistic safety, including online.
Engage with the African Declaration on Internet Rights and Freedoms The African Declaration on Internet Rights and Freedoms was developed to broaden the view of civil and political rights to include internet-related issues that are important for developing country actors. Those for whom the internet is a vital platform for expression and participation, including women’s rights activists and people of diverse sexualities and gender identities, will see their issues reflected in the Declarati...
APC welcomes the adoption by the Human Rights Council (HRC) of resolution A/HRC/32/L.20 reaffirming the importance of promoting and protecting human rights on the internet. The resolution, which was adopted by consensus, addresses some of the most pressing challenges to human rights online today. Since its landmark resolution in 2012 and follow-up resolution in 2014, the HRC has gone from recog...
“The African Declaration on Internet Rights and Freedoms (…) promotes human rights standards and principles of openness in internet policy formulation and implementation on the continent,” the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, David Kaye, highlighted in his latest report to the Human Rights Council 32nd session. The Afri...
Joint written statement submitted by the Association for Progressive Communications to the 32nd session of the Human Rights Council: State of Internet Rights in India, Malaysia and Pakistan With the increasing use of the internet for the exercise of freedom of expression and exchange of opinion globally, governments must fulfill their obligation to promote and protect human rights online. Howev...
The 32nd session of the Human Rights Council is taking place from 13 June to 1 July 2016 in Geneva. This session will be a significant one for internet rights, as the HRC will renew the bi-annual resolution on the promotion, protection and enjoyment of human rights on the internet. First passed in 2012, the resolution affirmed that the same rights that people have offline must also be protected...
The landscape of internet governance has been rapidly evolving in the decade since the conclusion of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Tunis in 2005. The Tunis Agenda for the Information Society not only affirmed the commitment of all involved countries to develop a people-centred, inclusive and development-oriented information society, but also proposed a multistakeholder a...
During the “Arab Spring” of 2011, the internet was a space for mobilisation. Since then, it has become a space for oppression of activism and dissent as well, with the governments of numerous countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA, Maghreb-Machrek in Arabic) adopting or amending legislation to crack down on online speech, deploying censorship and surveillance tools in an attemp...
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