Welcome to the 34th monthly round-up of developments impacting your local access networks.
EngageMedia spoke with Thinzar Shunlei Yi, a prominent pro-democracy activist in Myanmar, to find out more about how the military is using technology against protesters, and what kinds of support Myanmar civil society needs to continue their fight for democracy.
In this podcast, APC’s Marwa Azelmat talks about the need to enable women and marginalised communities to use technology safely, and the value of looking at locally informed approaches to platform design and governance to make social media more equitable and accessible for all.
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.
In this #BreadandNet 2020 session, Sacha Robehmed from the International Rescue Committee (IRC) discusses the role of online platforms in connecting organisations to individuals, while maintaining online privacy and security.
Disruptions to the internet and social media applications have emerged as a common and growing trend of digital repression, especially in authoritarian countries in Africa. Since 2019, numerous countries in the region have either restricted or fully blocked access to the internet.
The accelerated growth of e-commerce, especially e-shopping, has been one of the themes of COVID-19’s relationship with digital. What’s been happening, what’s the likely impact and, as always, who are likely to be winners and losers in this part of the digital ecosystem?
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.
As well as requirements such as commitment to the universal application of human rights, relevant experience, competence, independence and personal integrity, any individual considered for this mandate should also be well positioned to address the gendered dimensions of privacy.
In the Roadmap on Digital Cooperation launched in 2020, the UN Secretary General proposes reforms to promote the strengthening of the Internet Governance Forum, so that it could become "more responsive and relevant to current digital issues."
Free/libre and open-source software (FLOSS) offers us the possibility of escaping from an imposed “reality”: that we need to pay for access to certain proprietary software tools. Código Sur shares an overview of various FLOSS alternatives for different types of graphic design and layout work.
After two years of negotiations, the UN Open-ended Working Group (OEWG) on developments in the field of information and telecommunications in the context of international security has adopted its final report. Here, APC presents its positions on the most salient points of the report.
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...
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