May 2023 | Digital Rights Regional Briefs
Danae Tapia, Global Community Manager & Resident Hechicera
The May regional briefs are out!
These reports are monthly dispatches produced by our community leads reporting and researching digital rights affairs in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the MENA region.
For this edition, our community leads are presenting a cross-regional concern around workers’ rights and its relation to internet freedom issues became a common topic across the region: policy work in Colombia to protect the labour rights of delivery workers, content moderators unionising in Africa, and Asian platform workers strategizing during May Day.
Something that I love about this field of digital rights is its flexibility, and I find it extremely hopeful to see that such a transversal topic such as the wellbeing of workers can be addressed through a public interest technology lens. Do you think this is an intersection of importance in your region? Please let us know! We’re always thrilled about the idea of promoting innovative viewpoints on digital justice issues :)
Danae
Global Community Manager
Asia Regional Brief
Africa Regional Brief
Latin America Regional Brief
MENA Regional Brief
Author: Mardiya Siba Yahaya
Mardiya Siba Yahaya is our Africa Community Lead. She is a feminist digital sociologist, researcher and community movement builder whose work extensively investigates the implications of technology surveillance and datafied societies on minoritized genders and communities in the global South. She has a Masters in Sociology from the University of the Witwatersrand, and was awarded the Mandela Rhodes Scholarship in 2021. Mardiya recently participated in the fall 2022 research sprint hosted by the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society on “Digital IDs in Times of Crisis”.
Africa Regional Brief
Current Opportunities for Digital Rights Defenders
The European Association for Local Democracy has a call for proposals for women and youth in democracy initiatives. The initiative aims to fund and implement national and transnational projects in support of youth civic engagement and participation in the decision-making processes across the African Countries. Applications close on 15 August 2023.
Internews’ Greater Internet Freedom (GIF) Project is looking for four individual researchers to pilot a harmful speech tracking and mapping methodology. Apply for the harmful speech tracking fellowship by 26 May 2023.
The Center for Democracy & Technology is seeking a full-time policy associate/analyst to support its Equity in Civic Technology Project. Rolling application.
Emerging Topics on Digital Justice in Africa
What Unionizing Content Moderators in Africa Means for the Future of Digital Justice in the Region
On Labor Day this year, 200 content moderators of multiple African languages who work with Sama and Majorel, firms that serve Facebook, Youtube, TikTok and Chat GPT, unionized against unfair working conditions in Kenya.
Platform labor in Africa encompasses content moderators, data annotators, ride hailing and delivery workers. For the most part, content moderators and data annotators have been central to training machine learning models while ensuring that content on digital platforms or ones used to train AI models are not toxic. These forms of labor have been fundamental to producing safe technologies and digital content. However, the people whose labor is central to ensuring content safety experience exploitation themselves: they are not paid liveable wages nor are they provided with healthy and fair conditions of work.
By technology companies outsourcing such critical labor to third parties, they are able to bypass accountability on labour practices, while sub-contractors exploit the workers. The firms have been reported to engage in union busting when workers attempt to voice their concerns. Such a model used in the platform economy is similar to ones within the fashion and garment industries.
Cases that Shape the Present and Future of Digital Justice in Africa
Unfair labor practices have been an existing concern and point of action for many digital justice practitioners. Various digital justice practitioners believe that public interest technologies cannot be produced at the expense of vulnerable communities, and be based on practices that invisibilize, alienate and exploit workers. These labor cycles will be represented in the products of the technologies, making it essential for the humans behind the machine to experience just and protective conditions to produce inclusive technologies.
The Labor Day launch of the content moderators union is part of an emerging action where various gig-workers, digital rights advocates and practitioners have lobbied to ensure collective bargaining and association for workers whose rights to representation have long been ignored and stifled. The creation of the Labor Union in Kenya by workers of different origins and African languages coincides with Nigerian online drivers winning a union license which Uber and Bolt threatened to ‘revoke’.
Collectively, the present and future of digital justice in Africa partly points towards protective labor regulation and internal organizational practices that benefit workers.
Community News in Africa
Creating Data and Digital Trainings to Advance Language and Community Accessibility
Language and locational accessibility of digital rights tools, information, and training has been a major concern for digital rights community members from francophone speaking Africa. In a conversation with Brahem, he shared that resources being originally in English have left significant digital justice cases and imminent threats in neighboring West African countries undocumented. This inspired Brahem and a team of volunteers, the Ubunteam, to translate over a thousand digital security, surveillance and data resources to French. Brahem and his team train journalists, activists and students on open source technologies, digital rights, privacy and security. Brahem believes that this is a major step forward in creating access for a community that has largely been ignored within the digital rights and justice discourse.
Jokkolabs’ Innovation Pod is Partnering with Local Organisations to Implement Digital Justice Frameworks and Policies in South Sudan’s Academic Institutions.
Jokkolabs is working with the University of Juba in South Sudan to develop policies on digital rights within the region. Thus far, they have developed an intellectual property strategy to protect the work of faculty and students creating innovative digital solutions for their communities. This project also involves a partnership with the Go Girls ICT initiative to train women and girls on ways technology can be a complementary tool in addressing gender-based violence and peace and stability in South Sudan.
Community Concerns on Data Theft and SIM Card Mandates in Ghana
Community members shared perspectives with us on concerns as a follow up to our April brief which highlighted sim card surveillance in Ghana. Recent discoveries show that mobile companies used people’s Ghana Card fraudulently to register SIM cards that did not belong to the card holders and without their consent. While the National Communication Agency (NCA) is yet to sanction the mobile operators or address the issue, the community members from Ghana we had a conversation with pointed out concerns of what happens to the individuals whose data was used in this manner.
The case is layered. The SIM card reregistration deadline of 31 May 2023 requires people to use their digital IDs, ‘Ghana Card’, risks their exclusion. Acquiring the Ghana Card is filled with institutional and financial barriers that have left many Ghanaians without an ID. Inability to provide the digital ID means that in turn, many people’s SIM cards and phone lines will be disconnected.
Regional News and Updates in Africa
Tunisia’s digitization programs threaten the privacy of millions: Tunisia’s three new digitization schemes - the Biometric ID project, the Mobile ID program, and the subsidies’ compensation platform - are being developed without critical input on privacy, anti-surveillance, and protection from civil society groups. Stakeholders worry that the opacity of the system puts Tunisians at risk of data breaches and surveillance.
Sudan: Internet Shutdowns Fuel Human Rights Abuses – SMEX: Amid the Sudan war, SMEX documented multiple internet shutdowns by several internet providers including MTN, a major telecommunication service provider in the country. These wartime shutdowns are especially concerning for people whose source of information and access to loved ones is largely through the Internet. SMEX also reported it being a way to conceal critical information. SMEX strongly urges the Sudanese authorities to refrain from any further shutdowns.
Author: Astha Rajvanshi
Astha Rajvanshi is an independent journalist based in Mumbai, where she writes on gender, marginalized communities, and human rights across India and South Asia. Recently, she was awarded the Matthew Power Literary Reporting Award by New York University. As part of her reporting in India, she is currently examining tech surveillance and internet shutdowns. Previously, she was a Fellow for the Institute of Current World Affairs in Washington DC. She has also worked for the New York Times Magazine and Reuters in New York. She was born in New Delhi and raised in Sydney as a proud daughter of immigrants.
Asia Regional Brief
Current Opportunities for Digital Rights Defenders in Asia
The Digital Rights Asia-Pacific Assembly (#DRAPAC23) is happening from May 22 to 26 in Chiang Mai. Attendance at DRAPAC23 is free of charge. Sessions will primarily be held in English. Register to attend here.
The @USAID-funded Central Asia Media Program is organizing the 14th annual Central Asia Internet Forum on "Digital Rights and their Regulation: the Search for a Reasonable Balance.” Find out more here.
The Internet Freedom Foundation is looking for a Digital Literacy Intern to join their communications team. The intern will help shape communications for a digital rights organization working on the cutting edge of issues like surveillance, censorship, and net neutrality. This position will be full-time, based out of IFF's office in New Delhi. Interns will receive a stipend of INR 10,000 per month. Applications are being accepted on a rolling basis. Apply here.
IREX, an independent nonprofit organization, is looking for a Digital Safety ToT Expert for a media project in South and SouthEast Asia. They will be responsible for capacity-building and the design, preparation, and delivery of holistic safety ToT workshops to media practitioners and human rights defenders on an as-needed basis. IREX will prioritize local national applicants based in South and Southeast Asia (e.g., Thailand, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Indonesia) with experience of working in the region on digital safety or holistic safety issues. Apply here.
Human Rights Watch is seeking an Associate for its Asia Division to provide media, social media, advocacy, research and administrative assistance to the Tokyo office. This is a part-time position (24 hours per week) and the flexibility to work on time-sensitive products is highly desirable. Apply here.
Apply for APC’s CYRILLA research subgrant for 2023: APC will award one subgrant for a research project that focuses on the criminalisation of online expression in Sri Lanka. This research will be a continuation of APC’s previous study on this issue, titled Unshackling Expression: A Study on Laws Criminalising Expression Online in Asia, which to date has covered nine countries across South and Southeast Asia. Apply here.
Emerging Topics on Digital Justice in Asia
What does May Day look like for the millions of platform workers in Asia?
Workers in the so-called gig economy, especially via digital platforms like ride-hailing and delivery apps, account for a third of the world’s working population by some estimates, says the UN. However, 56% of the population in the Asia Pacific has no access to any social protection benefits, according to the International Labour Organization (ILO)’s findings.
As a burgeoning digital labor platform economy becomes increasingly common, governments are now grappling with how to regulate the industry and approach worker status. So far, most countries treat platform workers as self-employed, with little to no access to traditional staff benefits. Post-pandemic, the conditions in which workers operate have become worse. They experienced a drop in earnings, higher living costs, and a jump in fuel prices. These economic injustices triggered workers’ strikes and protests to demand better conditions and higher wages from app-based businesses.
Platforms are quick to classify workers as independent contractors and the reality for most gig workers is being forced to work long hours for little pay and benefits. Half of online workers earn less than the equivalent of $2 an hour and lack access to traditional employment benefits such as collective bargaining, insurance and work-related injury protection, according to the ILO.
Are the Local Improvements Enough? The Challenge of an International Convention or Law
Last October, delivery riders across Asia held multiple strikes against unfair treatment by platform companies. In South Korea, the Rider Union affiliated with the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) launched a strike against Coupang Eats, a local platform-based food delivery service, according to HK Labor Rights Monitor. In Thailand, Grab riders organized a 1-day strike to demand better delivery fee rates and reconsider its new fee policies which were implemented without consultation with its riders.
The Asian Labour Review writes that these strikes offer examples of transnational solidarity, where platform workers continue to cultivate a sense of solidarity that is moving beyond the boundaries of any platforms or geographies. “The invocation of the positions of ‘gig workers’ and ‘riders’ against ‘platform company’ shows workers see their struggle as a shared struggle against the exploitative practices of platform companies in which building power in numbers is their strongest weapon,” write the authors.
Image’s source: Kongnamhong, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
In April and May this year, the challenges intensified in other ways. Heatwaves often engulf the region, leading to more customers ordering food and rides on their apps. In some countries like Vietnam and India, apps are now levying a surcharge for temperatures hitting above 35 degrees Celsius/95 degrees Fahrenheit, or heavy rains lashing cities. The apps say that bad weather conditions can be tough on their drivers and delivery partners, and the extra fees go a long way in ensuring fair compensation during extreme weather.
Other countries offer different models for ensuring platform workers’ rights. In the UAE, where summer temperatures can soar to unimaginable degrees, delivery workers are legally required to take a mandatory break from 12:30 pm to 3:00 pm between June and September, as reported by The National News and other local outlets. The government introduced better laws to protect laborers from the "risks of exposure to high temperatures", and where laborers have to work during these hours, employers must provide cold drinking water, first-aid kits, cooling facilities and shaded rest areas.
But these models also begs the question: Is this enough? While extra pay can offer incentives to workers who need to work regardless of weather conditions, the spotlight is still glaring on platform companies for whether they adequately ensure the safety and health of their workers.
“Strategies like a hot-weather surcharge should not be used as a way to exploit workers and drive them to deliver under dangerous or unsafe circumstances,” Jaya Dhindaw, who works at the think-tank WRI India, told TRF’s Context News.
There is some good news, though. In 2020, India delinked worker protectors from worker status, offering a new social security code that gave explicit recognition to its 7.5 million gig and platform workers and offering protections for wages, occupational safety, social security, health, and working conditions. However, this law has not yet been implemented. Chinese regulators ordered online platforms to ensure workers earned above the minimum wage and were afforded insurance. Last year, Singapore became one of the first Asian countries to provide legal protections to its 73,000 gig workers who deliver food or drive ride-hailing services. Under new protections, these workers will still not be considered employees, but they will receive the following benefits not previously granted to them: fair compensation for workplace injuries, a pension fund, and formal representation for collective bargaining purposes.
“We are seeing more government action over platform workers’ rights and protection,” Akkanut Wantanasombut from the Institute of Asian Studies in Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University told Context News.
As pressure grows on governments to consider better protections and better health and safety standards for gig workers, experts say it is time for a law or a convention on the international level, maybe through the ILO, which everyone can abide by.
Community News in Asia
Digital Rights Foundation released a report asking whether women’s safety apps in Pakistan are actually effective. You can read the report here.
Tumpa is a usability-minded OpenPGP desktop application that makes the flow of creating subkeys and using them with yubikeys easier without the need of any command line interface. The tool is still at a very early stage, but the makers say the idea is to make OpenPGP easier to use for activists, journalists, lawyers and other groups who might not always be comfortable with using a terminal. The more feedback they get, the better it is for them to make improvements. Read more here.
Free Expression Myanmar, an NGO, has released a new report titled "Surviving Myanmar's Digital Coup". The report discusses how the military coup in Myanmar has impacted the country's digital landscape. It also talks about how the military government is trying to control and restrict online communication. You can read the report here.
Image’s source: AlterMidya
Regional News & Updates in Asia
In the Philippines, cyber censorship is a new form of authoritarianism
An investigation by Qurium revealed that the Philippine military was waging cyber attacks using government infrastructure of the Department of Science and Technology.
A startup ushered thousands of Indian women into gig work, for better and worse
In Rest of World, how Urban Company in India offered many women a rare opportunity for social mobility, but has left them wanting more.
Pakistan faces nationwide internet blockage: A digital crisis unfolds
The arrest of Imran Khan led to internet shutdowns in Pakistan, raising serious concerns about the state of democracy, freedom of expression, and access to information in the country.
Is Telegram profiting from Myanmar's nightmare?
Myanmar’s Telegram is seeing more and more problematic channels on its platform but continues to ignore the issues.
Unfreedom Monitor Report: Kazakhstan
You can read an excerpt from a new Advox research report on digital authoritarianism in Kazakhstan.
China’s new AI rules protect people — and the Communist Party’s power
The regulations offer data protection and transparency, but also strengthen censorship and control.
A traveler’s dream: Cash-free payment systems link up across Southeast Asia
From Bali to Bangkok, people are ditching cards for QR code payments. There’s a catch: for now, it’s for locals only.
Author: Úrsula Schüler
Úrsula Schüler was born and raised in Chile, South America. She studied journalism in her home country and a Digital media marketing postgraduate program in Canada. She has more than seven years of experience working in newspapers and television channel websites, for whom reported two presidential and legislative elections in Chile. She has also done internal communication for universities, companies, and organizations. Spanish is her first language and years ago she was a student representative in high school and her university.
LATAM Regional Brief
Current Opportunities for Digital Rights Defenders in LATAM
RightsCon will be held on June 5 to 8, 2023 in Costa Rica. Register for a free online ticket here or request a free or discounted in-person ticket here.
Digital Rights call for applications for their paid internship “Seguridad y resiliencia digital en América Latina”. Deadline: June 23 2023.
Fòs Feminista is hiring a Senior Officer, Systems and Effectiveness in the Global South.
Fòs Feminista is hiring a Senior Partner Organization Finance and Social Enterprise Officer in the LAC Region.
Festival de Datos is happening in Punta del Este, Uruguay from November 7 to 9, 2023.
Emerging Topics on Digital Justice in LATAM
Colombian Labour Reform Bill Includes Some Platform Workers' Rights Despite Companies' Resistance
The new Colombian Government is led by Gustavo Petro, a centrist left politician who got elected in June 2022. Petro committed to several promises related to improving workers rights, including the platform workers, throughout his campaign.
In March 2023, the Colombian Government introduced its new Labour Reform bill proposal into the Congress. The legal text intends to modify several articles of their Labor Code and includes a section regarding platform work.
Team CommUnity wanted to learn more about the process and how this could impact the platform workers’ conditions and the gig economy in the region. We talked to UnidApp Colombia, an organization of platform workers mostly for delivery services, and Fair Work Colombia, a group which investigates the gig economy in the country.
Delivery Workers Got Recognition, but Companies Established an Alliance Against the Reform.
UnidApp Colombia has been proposing changes to the delivery workers’ conditions for over three years. The majority of workers do not have accident insurance. They are also categorized as “collaborator”, “autonomous” or “freelancer”. Despite that, they cannot disconnect from their tasks whenever they want. They have to accept assigned orders, and in most cases, have to commit to specific scheduled shifts similar to traditional employment.
During the bill elaboration, the Labor Ministry heard the different groups' positions, including UnidApp’s proposals. The vice president of UnidApp, Jhonniell Colina, explains that the Colombian Government’s proposal “recognizes us as workers with rights, we are entitled to having an employment contract and social security (retirement), and the platforms will have to make their algorithm transparent in terms of how the platform works and how we are ranked.”
However, the path to reform in the Congress has just started. In the meantime, the platform company owners have already established an alliance and presented their own proposals to the Labor Ministry criticizing that of the government. Despite the fact that the Labor Ministry invited the different work parties in Colombia to present their ideas, the companies claim that they weren’t included in the process, stated in the media that the reform will negatively affect their business, and some even claimed that the new rules would force them to lay off 80% to 90% of the workers.
Pending: The Bill Doesn’t Include all the Digital Work Diversity
Collage made from a photo from the Colombian Government and a Wikimedia photo from Alexandre Arias, CC BY-SA 4.0.
In their April's Policy brief, Fair Work Colombia explains that some articles in the Reform Law offer clearer and more transparent terms and conditions. In the proposed law, they find “an advance for labor inclusion” and “a clear interest in improving the working conditions of millions of workers in the country.”
However, they also specified that digital work has different ways, features, and conditions from work in the cloud or “cloudwork” to the “geographically connected”. The first group works remotely and have tasks that include translation, design, conducting surveys, and training artificial intelligence systems training and more. The second group presents both digital and in-person contact aspects with the parties, with tasks such as transport services, domestic work, cleaning, delivery, and beauty, among other trades.
Considering the increasing “platformization” of different fields, they highlighted that the government’s bill focuses on a very specific type of platform work:food delivery. It misses an opportunity to regulate platform work beyond that. They explained that “in Colombia, the platform economy encompasses a wide variety of businesses, platforms, and ventures: from delivery platforms such as Rappi, through transport platforms (Uber, Didi, Cabify, Indrive), to domestic work (Hogarú, Aux, AseoYa)”.
Community News in LATAM
Ecuadorian Prosecution office appeals after trial declaring Ola Bini innocent
Ola Bini, the Swedish free software developer and computer security expert, was waiting for the Ecuadorian written resolution of the trial that declared him innocent. Finally, the written resolution came on April 26, but the Prosecutor decided to appeal on May 2. In the midterm of the new appealing process, Ola Bini will still be facing hard legal restrictions in Ecuador. His bank accounts are still frozen, he is forced to attend weekly presentations at the Prosecution office (Fiscalía), and he is still prohibited from leaving the country.
Coroico: First municipality in Bolivia with data protection regulation
On May 17 of this year, not only was World Internet Day celebrated, but also the approval and sanction of the first municipal law for digitalization and personal data management in the region. This was the result of continuous work by the InternetBolivia.org Foundation and the Aguayo Association. The process started two years ago, when the Municipality of Coroico in Bolivia entered a transformation process that placed the axis of its digitization on the protection of its citizens’ personal data.
Latin America Meetup hosted by Team CommUnity
The Latin America Meetup hosted by Team CommUnity (TCU) was held on May 24. You can read the notes of the meetup here.
Regional News and Updates in LATAM
Brazil opens investigation against Google and Meta for "abuse of dominant position" among the content moderation bill discussion
Brazilian civil organizations denounced Googling using its monopoly to mark its position against the content moderation bill on the front page of the search engine without making it clear to users that it was not information from an interested party. The Consumer Secretariat forced it to be withdrawn in less than 2 hours, something that Google complied with.
Dominican Republic: Pegasus Spyware Discovered on Prominent Journalist’s Phone
In the first confirmed case in the country, a high-profile journalist in the Dominican Republic has been targeted with NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware. Analysis by Amnesty International’s Security Lab confirmed that a mobile device belonging to Nuria Piera was targeted and infected with Pegasus, which enabled full and unrestricted access to her device, three times between 2020 and 2021. Piera is an investigative journalist who has focused on issues of corruption and impunity in the Dominican Republic.
A ghost user operated for three years in the Ecuadorian judicial informatics system
A user entered the Ecuadorian Judicial Processing Automatic System database for three years. It affected the automatic draw of judges and although the highest authorities of the Judiciary knew about the user’s existence, they neglected to stop it.
Brazil blocks Telegram again
A Brazilian judge ordered the suspension of the encrypted messaging platform Telegram at the end of April. The shutdown happened after the company refused to hand over data belonging to members of a neo-nazi channel. The order cut off millions of people’s access to Telegram, despite it stating that it was not in possession of the information. While access has since been restored, the shutdown follows a similar blocking last year, entrenching a harmful pattern for the users.
...
Author: Islam al Khatib
Islam al Khatib is a Palestinian feminist born and raised in Beirut. She researches feminism(s), hegemonies in the 'technocene', ecologies, and grief. Her work focuses on the methods and the processes with which we produce knowledge. She has a Masters in Gender, Media and Culture from Goldsmiths, University of London, where she also worked as the Students' Union Welfare and Liberation officer. She is a member of Wiki Gender.
MENA Regional Brief
Current Opportunities for Digital Rights Defenders in MENA
AI Accountability Fellowships - Pulitzer Center, Deadline: July 1, 2023.
The Al Accountability Fellowships aims to provide assistance to journalists engaged in thorough investigations of AI accountability. These investigations focus on analyzing how governments and corporations employ predictive and surveillance technologies to inform their decision-making processes in areas such as policing, medicine, social welfare, the criminal justice system, hiring practices, and beyond. For more information, click here.PDAF23:
The Palestine Digital Activism Forum is widely recognized as the largest digital gathering focused on Palestinian digital rights. This year, the forum will adopt a hybrid format, combining online and offline elements, and will span three days, taking place from May 23 to May 25. Click here to learn more.
Emerging Topics on Digital Justice in MENA
Tunisia: Shrinking People’s Only Remaining Public Sphere
Tunisia is often portrayed as a post-Arab Spring success story in the SWANA region. However, recent incidents of censorship and rise of xenophobic rhetoric have proven the romanticization of its new democracy may not be true. Complementing last month’s brief focusing on Tunisia’s cybercrime laws, this month we delve into understanding the ways in which this crackdown on dissent has led to the shrinking of Tunisian’s people only remaining public sphere: the Internet.
Image’s source: Dodos photography, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
In a conversation with Tunisian digital rights researcher and TCU’s own team member, Rima Sghaier, she explained that things have changed drastically following Tunisian president Kais Saied power grab in July 2021: “Saied has established a one-man rule in Tunisia, particularly when it comes to democratic institutions in the country. This occurred during a time of heightened emotions, as people were frustrated with the parliament and government, and there were significant trust issues with representatives, compounded by a severe economic crisis and mismanagement of the pandemic leading to a public health crisis”. Sghaier also highlights the ways in which Saied has also weaponized and prolonged the "emergency state" to prosecute dissidents and the ways in which Decree 54 has been used.
Following that, Saied closed down the committee investigating corruption despite his previous claim on fighting corruption. He also dissolved the Supreme Judicial Council, independent judicial watchdog. Sghaier explains: “He swiftly initiated military court proceedings against citizens and allowed police brutality to persist. However, he failed to provide substantial solutions to address Tunisia's socio-economic crisis. He avoided communication with the press, engagement with civil society or political parties, and instead resorted to theatrical gestures displaying superficial concern for human rights. No meaningful accountability has been established for instances of police brutality. Following the elections, which took place under tight deadlines and lacked majority approval for the referendum, many Tunisians remained unaware of the unfolding events and the electoral process all while continuing to protest against poverty, high prices and food shortages . Subsequently, there has been an alarming increase in the suppression of free speech. Saied has demonized his critics, prosecuted judges, political opponents, media owners and journalists, and internet users. More recently, he has targeted lawyers defending these individuals”.
Internet Users’ Rights Affected
This crackdown is manifesting online where it’s not only impacting defenders, but also internet users who share any opinions. Recently, civil society launched the FreeBabar campaign. The Babar campaign emerged following the arrest of two young internet users who created a parody of the Babar theme song highlighting the current relationship between youth and the police.
Shortly after publishing the parody, they were apprehended, although one of them managed to escape. Civil society swiftly mobilized, leveraging Article 73 of the 2022 constitution. Here, Rima explains further how “this incident sheds light on the lack of judicial independence in Tunisia, with orders coming from both the police and the president. When the police are involved, sentences are often delivered rapidly. The campaign carried significant weight, particularly due to the involvement of students student unions, as the arrested individuals were students themselves. As the president was preparing to depart for the Arab League, he inquired about the reason for their arrest. However, he followed his usual approach of downplaying such incidents, and on the same day, the detainees were released”.
However, it is crucial to remain cautious and recognize that release does not signify the closure of their cases; it is merely a temporary measure. This represents just one instance among many where internet users are arrested for expressing their political views online, whether critical of the government, public officials, or ministers”. In the latest development, Haythem el-Mekki and Elyes Gharbi, co-hosts associated with local radio station Mosaique FM, were summoned for questioning. They were invited for interrogation because el-Mekki criticized the recruitment process of the police in Tunisia, which was labeled as defamation.
Another internet user was also targeted. Recently, a physics teacher wrote a FB post explaining how he’s not making ends meet under Saied’s rule. Sghaier explains that “within a remarkably short span of three days, he was subjected to investigation and subsequently sentenced to one month in prison. This case highlights the precarious situation faced by internet users in Tunisia, as online expression is currently under a looming threat. It is evident that individuals who may not necessarily be advocates or defenders are equally at risk”.
Collaboration And Ensuring The Provision Of Resources
When asking Sghaier about tactics and solidarity with Tunisian digital rights defenders, she shared the importance of focusing on sustainability and capacities.
“It is crucial to acknowledge that the majority of Tunisian civil society organizations were established after the democratic transitions in 2011. They have undertaken significant work under vastly different conditions, as the window of freedom is rapidly closing today. Objectively speaking, we find ourselves under a new dictatorship. Many of these organizations, especially grassroots movements, are ill-prepared to operate under such challenging circumstances, exacerbated by President Kaies' explicit opposition to and likely upcoming restrictions on foreign funding. The sustainability and effectiveness of their work are under severe strain, without any current contingency plans in place. The primary challenge at present is ensuring the provision of resources while they are already depleted due to responding to acts of violence. In order to navigate this repressive environment and ensure our ability to continue our efforts, it is imperative that digital rights defenders come together. We must prepare for what’s coming, explore methods of circumvention and devise protective measures. Collaboration between the diaspora and activists on the ground in Tunisia is essential”.
It’s critical to note that this remaining sphere is shrinking, and that it’s important, as Sghaier says, to “also bear in mind that the internet censorship machinery can be reactivated at any time, and it is crucial that we prepare ourselves accordingly”. More importantly, Sghaier reminds us of the legacy of this work: “while I consider the current regime a dictatorship and that the civic society space is dramatically shrinking every day, the revolutionary process by feminist networks, civic society and HRDs is ongoing to deconstruct decades of authoritarianism and dictatorship”.
Community News in MENA
On May 5, MTN Sudan announced that all its relay stations in Khartoum were down due to power outages and difficulties in transporting fuel for generators. According to close sources to SMEX, the power outages not only affected the availability of electricity but also disrupted the functioning of the electricity purchase system. As a result, people were left in a state of total blackout once their supply balances depleted. This lack of electricity further hindered the efforts of workers and engineers who were responsible for crucial repairs and maintenance. Without the means to commute and perform their duties, basic services, including vital ones such as ambulances, came to a standstill, leaving the population even more vulnerable.
We are again sharing a list of resources that could help defenders at risk.
Urgent Action Fund - Africa: UAF provides emergency grants for WHRDs at risk.
Front Line Defenders - Protection Grants: Front Line Defenders provides emergency relocation and security support to HRDs at risk, including relocation assistance and safe housing.
Canada Global Refugee Stream for Human Rights Defenders: The Canadian government has a dedicated refugee stream for human rights defenders for resettlement to Canada.
Journalists in Distress Network: Resources for journalists who have received serious threats or are in distress in relation to their work, and may need emergency relocation.
ProtectDefenders.eu: range of services to human rights defenders at risk, including an emergency helpline (run by Front Line Defenders), emergency grants, and temporary relocation.
Regional News and Updates in MENA
Automated Apartheid: A New Report By Amnesty International Exposing Israeli Gamified Biometric Surveillance System
Amnesty International's recent research sheds light on the extensive use of facial recognition technology by Israeli authorities to maintain control over and oppress Palestinians. This technology, particularly employed at checkpoints, reinforces discriminatory policing and segregation, thereby violating the basic rights of Palestinians. These checkpoints serve as crucial passages for Palestinians to access essential goods, services, education, work, family life, and healthcare. Remarkably, only Palestinians are required to use these checkpoints, and the system relies solely on databases containing Palestinian individuals' data.
Since 2020, soldiers in Hebron have been instructed by their superiors to utilize the Blue Wolf app on smartphones, aiming to register as many Palestinians as possible and showcase their presence, according to Breaking the Silence. This gamified biometric surveillance system incentivizes military units to capture more pictures of Palestinians while also perpetuates constant observation of them.
In Hebron City and East Jerusalem, Palestinians face numerous legal and military measures that violate their rights and contribute to Israel's apartheid system. Although these human rights violations have been increasingly documented, the extent to which they have been intensified and expanded through technological means has been less understood until now.
Checkpoint officials exercise control over entry and exit points in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and subject Palestinians exclusively to arbitrary checks and access restrictions, affecting their rights and services. The constant surveillance Palestinians endure exposes them to insecurity, arbitrary arrest, interrogation, and detention.
Known as Red Wolf, the latest experimental surveillance system joins a series of other known systems and databases, including Blue Wolf and Wolf Pack, that target Palestinians. This enables Israeli authorities to identify protesters and maintain constant surveillance over Palestinians, even in their daily activities.
These systems have expanded alongside illegal Israeli settlements, which encroach upon Palestinian neighborhoods in the Old City and other occupied areas of East Jerusalem. By governing the movement of Palestinians in H2, the Hebron area under Israeli Civil Administration's military rule, Israel can geographically confine Palestinians and employ military force and surveillance tools like Red Wolf and Blue Wolf to deter resistance.
The Public Source Experimental Licensing: Copyright License To Any Individual Or Entity Who Accepts A Duty Of Care To Palestinian Life
The Public Source, an independent media organization based in Beirut, decided to no longer utilize the popular Creative Commons licenses and instead exercise their right to prevent the use of their work by institutions that enforce settler-colonial practices, which oppress Palestinians. The new copyright license granted by The Public Source allows free commercial use to any person or entity that acknowledges their responsibility to protect Palestinian lives and incorporates this license into their own intellectual property. Naturally, this excludes any person or entity that has been identified as a boycott target by the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement. This is a form of engaging with the ethical licensing movement.
This is an important step towards highlighting the responsibility of knowledge producers towards Palestine. The concept of ethical licensing aims to incorporate ethical considerations into the domain of licensing agreements and intellectual property. The emerging movement endeavors to advance social justice, environmental sustainability, and human rights by means of licensing and distributing creative works.
The conventional models of licensing tend to give precedence to monetary benefits while disregarding the wider ramifications of intellectual property on the community. The concept of ethical licensing presents a counterpoint to the conventional approach by urging creators and entities to contemplate the ethical ramifications of the utilization of their creations and to integrate particular provisions and prerequisites into their licensing arrangements.
There are different examples of ethical licensing projects, for example, At The Root which is an ethical open source license for anti-racist projects. This license, for example, does not allow sharing with any party any entity that engages with any military that perpetuates state-sanctioned violence.
Microsoft’s Cloud Data Center In Saudi Arabia
Last month, Human Rights Watch urged Microsoft to halt its investment in a new cloud data center region in Saudi Arabia unless the corporation can exhibit tangible actions to alleviate the potential of enabling grave human rights abuses. The announcement made by Microsoft in February 2023 regarding the building of a cloud data center in Saudi Arabia for enterprise cloud services has elicited concerns and fears owing to the government's history of infiltrating technology platforms and persistent domestic repression. The Saudi government has a history of phone hacking, infiltration of major tech companies, and the enactment of laws that confer extensive surveillance powers to government entities.
Earlier this year, Oracle Corp made an announcement regarding its intention to invest $1.5 billion in Saudi Arabia. This move indicates the company's plan to establish its third public cloud region in Riyadh. With the escalating demand for cloud computing, technology giants like Oracle, Microsoft, Amazon, and Alphabet's Google have been compelled to establish data centers in various locations worldwide to facilitate faster data transfer.
There are fears that authoritarian governments, such as Saudi Arabia, may use these data centers and cloud regions to monitor and regulate people's actions, suffocating free expression and crushing dissent. The concentration of sensitive data in these centers also increases people' vulnerability to surveillance and the exploitation of personal information. The presence of data centers and public cloud regions can also allow governments to exert tighter control over internet infrastructure and restrict information access, implying that the government now has complete control over the infrastructure of information sharing across physical and virtual networks.
Anticipated 2% Increase In It Expenditures In The Mena
Last April, research released by Gartner, a research and advisory firm, unveiled the estimated expenditure on IT in the MENA region for the current year, indicating a substantial total of $175.5 billion. According to the research, spending trends within the MENA region are focused solely on communication services which are projected to witness the highest expenditure this year, reaching $115.13 billion. This represents a 9.8% increase compared to the $12.15 billion spent in the previous year. In contrast, spending on devices is expected to decline by 6.4%, falling from $26.68 billion in 2022 to $24.97 billion in the current year, as per Gartner's data.
Simultaneously, Gartner is also expecting security spending in MENA to increase. This prediction and report comes months after the Gartner Security & Risk Management Summit, which took place in Dubai at the end of February. Security spending is projected to record the highest growth at 19.5%, followed by application security spending, growing at 19%. Cloud security consists of cloud workload protection platforms and cloud access security brokers.
The Gartner analysts suggest that increased security risks and complexity of operating and managing multiple technologies will drive MENA organizations to spend on cloud security and the share of cloud-native solutions is expected to grow in 2023. Security Services to represent 38% of total security spending in 2023 In 2023, the researchers say that security consulting spending, which is sub-segment of security services, will continue to grow due to higher demand for consulting services related to digital transformation projects, compliance mandates and incident response linked to the rise in ransomware attacks.
This increased spending on cloud sharing is scary because of the ways in which integrating cloud services involves transferring and storing sensitive data in third-party systems. This raises concerns about data privacy and compliance with relevant regulations in contexts where there’s seemingly little to no conversations on ethical assessment of security practices and compliance standards of cloud service providers to mitigate potential risks, especially as this is happening on a governmental level.