The COVID-19 pandemic spurred on existing debates and developments on privacy, government surveillance and data monetisation. But what do all these mean for the Asia-Pacific, the region where most of the world’s population lives but whose voices are often overlooked in global tech discourse?
The results of 7amleh's Index of Racism and Incitement in Israeli Social Networks during the year 2020 showed an increase in violent discourse towards Arabs by 16% over the year 2019, with 1 out of every 10 posts about Palestinians and Arabs in 2020 containing violent speech.
The Indian government has taken various measures that violate free expression and privacy rights in response to growing international criticism of its handling of the farmers protests, targeting critics of the authorities and supporters of the protests.
Connecting the Unconnected: Supporting community networks and other community-based connectivity initiatives
This project will contribute to an enabling ecosystem for the emergence and growth of community networks and other community-based connectivity initiatives in developing countries. It is part of a multi-year, multi-donor strategy envisaged to address the human capacity and sustainability challenges, along with the policy and regulatory obstacles, that limit the growth of community-based connectivity initiatives.
Challenging hate narratives and violations of freedom of religion and expression online in Asia
This project seeks to protect and promote respect for freedom of religion and expression on the internet, particularly by countering hate speech online on the basis of religion, and generating narratives and discourse that defend secular and diverse opinions touching upon religion. The three-year project focuses on five countries in South and Southeast Asia: Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Myanmar and Pakistan.
FIRN: Feminist Internet Research Network
The Feminist Internet Research Network is a three-and-a-half-year collaborative and multidisciplinary research project led by APC, funded by the International Development Research Centre. The project draws on the study “Mapping research in gender and digital technology”, and the Feminist Principles of the Internet collectively crafted by feminists and activists, primarily located in the global South.
Global Information Society Watch
Global Information Society Watch (GISWatch) is an annual report co-produced by the APC network and partners, which looks at the progress being made in creating an inclusive information society worldwide (particularly in implementing WSIS goals), encourages critical debate, and strengthens networking and advocacy for a just, inclusive information society.
What can AI do that humans can’t? What can humans do that AI can’t?
This piece is the second in a series where Julia Keseru explores the connection between our online systems and bodily integrity, and the long-term effects of digital innovation on our collective well-being.
Technological disruption is complex. It shouldn’t just be understood as progress or as threat. There will be winners and losers from it.
Columns
David Souter writes a weekly column for APC, looking at different aspects of the information society, development and rights. David’s pieces take a fresh look at many of the issues that concern APC and its members, with the aim of provoking discussion and debate. Issues covered include internet governance and sustainable development, human rights and the environment, policy, practice and the use of ICTs by individuals and communities.
APC welcomes the opportunity to engage in this session. We appreciate Ambassador Lauber’s openness to civil society and the OEWG’s willingness to receive and consider comments by non-state actors.
In this response to the first substantive draft of the Open-ended Working Group on ICTs (OEWG) report, APC and other civil society organisations provide general feedback, focusing on the “introductory remarks” and the “conclusions and recommendations” sections, and provide recommendations.
APC welcomes this opportunity to address comments to the zero draft of the United Nations Open-ended Working Group on developments in the field of information and telecommunications in the context of international security (OEWG) report.
"Gender Approaches to Cybersecurity" explores how gender norms shape specific activities pertaining to cybersecurity design, defence and response. In each of these three pillars, the research identifies distinct dimensions of cyber-related activities that have gendered implications and, thus, nee...
This publication is a compilation of 19 articles by African researchers, academics, journalists and human and digital rights activists on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on digital rights in Africa.
The undersigned organisations call on the military to immediately respect the election results, return power to the elected parliament and government, unconditionally release all those detained, refrain from all acts of violence, and restore and maintain full internet connectivity.
APC and a coalition of over 60 other organisations are calling on Facebook and Google to provide equal and better transparency regarding political advertising on their platforms globally. Online transparency should not be a privilege of the few, but the right of all.
APC congratulates and welcomes Fabrizio Hochschild to his new role as United Nations Envoy on Technology. APC sees the Tech Envoy role as crucial to promoting improved coordination and synergy among different spaces and processes concerning internet governance and global digital cooperation.
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