Internet rights

The House of Representatives has approved a controversial anti-terrorism bill and is rushing it through final reading. Human rights groups are condemning the grossly misplaced priorities of the Philippine Congress when the people are struggling with a global pandemic.

This position paper is informed by monitoring conducted by the African Declaration on Internet Rights and Freedoms (AfDec) Coalition of developments relating to the COVID-19 pandemic.

7amleh has published the first guidebook to Palestinian digital rights in Arabic and English. “Know Your Digital Rights: Towards a Safe, Fair & Free Palestinian Digital Space” gives an overview of the digital rights of Palestinians.

In Uganda, social media is one of the avenues for disseminating information on COVID-19 to citizens. however, the effectiveness has been undermined by the social media tax, which requires telecom subscribers to pay a daily subscription in order to access popular social media platforms.

Palestinian civil society organisations condemn the selection of Palmor, voicing concern about the impact that her role will play in further shrinking the space for freedom of expression online and the protection of human rights.

The last time a network was forced to stop broadcasting was during martial law under the dictator Ferdinand Marcos. At a time when credible sources of news and information are needed more than ever, the shutdown is seen as a blatant attack on freedom of the press and freedom of expression.

See how videojournalists in the Philippines are responding to the pandemic in this video from EngageMedia.

Open letter from APC and the IFLA to the EU Ambassador to South Africa concerning the Copyright Bill that currently awaits the signature of President Ramaphosa, following its approval by the South African Parliament.