The EU Parliament is looking to reform Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs). In a report adopted with 444 votes in favour, 48 against and 75 abstentions, MEPs propose a series of measures to counteract the threat that SLAPPs pose to journalists, NGOs and civil society in Europe.  MEPs worry about the effect of these [...]

The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the Kinshasa Digital Academy revealed a new partnership to launch Generation Unlimited (GenU) in the Democratic Republic of Congo. GenU is a global multi-sector partnership set up internationally by UNICEF to meet the urgent need for expanded education, training, and employment opportunities for young people on an unprecedented scale. [...]

According to Euractiv, a draft decision from Ireland’s Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) endorsing Facebook’s legal basis for processing personal data has been met with criticism. This legal case was primarily aimed at challenging Facebook’s unique approach to data protection, which consists in including data processing specifications in its general terms and conditions. The Austrian activist [...]

The Austrian civil society group noyb has filed 422 complaints with ten data protection authorities in the EU on the use of “dark patterns” in cookie banners.  After sending a written warning and a “draft complaint” to more than 500 companies on May 31st, 42% of all violations were remedied within 30 days. However, 82% [...]

The African Union Commission (AUC) held a consultative workshop to receive input on its draft digital ID framework developed by a digital ID taskforce. The process, supported by German development cooperation agency GIZ, was open to civil society, researchers and the general public. The Head of Information Society Division at the AUC, Moses Bayingana, explained [...]

During a UN Security Council meeting, the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) head Izumi Nakamitsu underscored the potential harm of digital technologies on human life and how ‘we must remain vigilant' in the face of malicious technologies that ‘could imperil the security of future generations.’ ‘Digital technologies are increasingly straining existing legal, humanitarian and [...]

On June 29  Estonia, in the capacity of the President of the Security Council, held a high-level open debate on the theme ‘Maintaining international peace and security in cyberspace’. All Member States were invited to share national views on several issues: What kind of impact may the malicious use of cyberspace have in relation to conflicts [...]

Eighteen organisations alongside more than 50 artists, journalists, and human rights defenders kicked off the #StopSilencingPalestine campaign to advocate against  Facebook’s censorship of Palestinian voices. The latter was manifested when Facebook took down Palestinians’ posts and accounts that reported the forced evictions in Sheikh Jarrah and police brutality and clampdown on peaceful demonstrators. The campaign [...]

A number of civil society organisations working in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region kicked off MENA Coalition to Combat Digital Surveillance. The coalition is co-led by the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) and Access Now among other nine organisations. It aims at advocating against the sales of digital surveillance tools to [...]

During a high-level dialogue at the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) global conference for World Press Freedom Day, the UNESCO released a brief under the title of Letting the Sun Shine In: Transparency and Accountability in the Digital Age. The brief, which includes a selection of high-level principles to enhance the transparency of [...]