The annual Internet Governance Forum, the United Nations’ most significant multistakeholder platform for discussing internet governance, is taking place from 2 to 17 November remotely. Here are some highlights on the participation of APC and its members.
How can we ensure that marginalised communities in the region are safe to share their stories online? Bishakha Datta, Executive Director of Point of View, elaborates on how the challenges these groups face on the internet are parallel to the obstacles encountered offline, as well as how allies in...
Community-owned networks provide alternative, locally driven and sustainable solutions that are critical in addressing connectivity gaps in Africa. To explore these solutions, the next session of the Virtual Summit on Community Networks in Africa is taking place on 28 October 2020.
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 the third part of the webcomic "The Internet's Footprint", Nadège tells us how greenwashing hides the complex intersections between technologies, territory and capitalism, as well as highlighting the resistance and self-determination of local communities.
Feminist activists have played an important role in pointing out how the internet rights of those who are marginalised on account of gender, sexuality and gender expression are particularly precarious. But where is the funding for feminist work on technology and infrastructure?
Shivkumari, an Internet Saathi from Rewa, Madhya Pradesh, is currently producing 300 masks per day and supplying them to the local hospitals. At the time of writing, she had received an order for 16,000 masks from a government hospital, out of which she has delivered 2,500.
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.
This joint statement calls on countries participating in the WTO negotiations on global rules to make it easier for consumers and companies to trade online to design a deal that puts people at its the centre and fully protect their rights.
Digital technologies can help us fight climate change, environmental degradation and pollution, but we must significantly reduce their impact on the planet. One of the key strategies in mitigating this impact is to treat the devices as part of circular economies. This edition of this gu...
In this joint letter, APC, Privacy International and other civil society organisations raise their concerns over the funding and development of projects and initiatives which threaten the right to privacy and other fundamental rights, such as freedom of expression and freedom of assembly.
What is the “corona jihad”? In the time of a pandemic, how has hate speech made matters worse for the Muslim population in India? How do we curb hate speech online? These are just some of the questions that this report aims to answer.
APC’s view is that global digital cooperation should aim to improve and democratise the governance of the internet at all levels, not only to establish more equitable influence for and among sovereign states, acknowledging that multilateralism and multistakeholderism are mutually reinforcing.
This report outlines jurisprudence across the global South on the legality of internet shutdowns. It tackles the growing challenge of government-mandated disruptions of internet access around the world, often under the guise of safeguarding public order and upholding national security interests.
Companies should use international human rights law as the authoritative global standard for ensuring freedom of expression and other rights on their platforms, not the varying laws of states or their own private interests. In this document, APC explains why and how we work on this issue.
This joint submission was made in response to an invitation by the Ethiopian Communications Authority (ECA) for interested stakeholders to submit their comments on a number of draft telecommunications-related directives and policies.
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