Digital security
The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated concerns on public life. Among the conditions faced in the Philippines during this period is gender-based violence, influenced by the quality of gender-responsive measures in times of crises.
In response to national security challenges related to terrorism, ethnic conflict and organised crime, Niger promulgated a new law on the interception of communications, with surveillance implications that threaten the right to free speech and privacy online.
On 30 August, Lebanese internet users reported an internet disruption that made it almost impossible to access platforms like Twitter. This outage affected many websites and services globally, but not all internet service providers nor all internet services in Lebanon were affected the same.
During RightsCon 2020, the Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET) hosted a session on non-consensual sharing of intimate images (NCII), a form of online violence that is on the rise in Uganda and other sub-Saharan African countries, commonly referred to as “revenge porn”.
This position paper published by 7amleh - The Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media details the increase in Israeli digital rights violations with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Media Matters for Democracy expresses solidarity with the women journalists who have called out online violence they face on social media platforms. A statement released by a group of women journalists on 12 August highlights a culture of hateful speech, incitement, harassment and doxxing.
In Part 2 of our series exploring existing artificial intelligence ethics and their shortfalls, we find that ethical principles and guidelines currently in use have limited substance in their content and also a high possibility of being used mainly as window dressing while diverting us away from more structural solutions such as legal regulations.
APC member organisation the Open Culture Foundation (OCF), based in Taiwan, reflects upon their experience at RightsCon 2020, which this year took place online.
As technologies based on artificial intelligence (AI) gain traction, the need to govern them also becomes increasingly urgent. In recent years, ethical AI has surfaced as the de facto pathway towards safer and better AI, often manifested in lists of guidelines and principles or codes of conduct.
Essential workers and service workers in the United States, especially those in the LGBTQIA+ community, are increasingly more vulnerable at the workplace during the COVID-19 pandemic. They are at risk of losing employment benefits, and are subject to discrimination and surveillance at work.
Association for Progressive Communications (APC) 2020
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