A recent study shows that 30% of K-12 public school students and 10% of teachers in the US do not participate in online learning because of lack of connected devices, Internet access or both. Out of 50 million students who had to take classes from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 15-16 million do not have devices [...]

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Court of Justice has fined Togo US$3400 after ruling that Togo’s Internet shutdowns were illegal and an affront to its citizens’ right to freedom of expression. This follows a petition filed by Amnesty International citing government ordered Internet shutdowns on several dates in 2017. The petition was [...]

Australia, Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Slovenia, the UK, the USA, and the EU have announced the creation of the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI). An international and multistakeholder initiative dedicated to guiding 'the responsible development and use of AI, grounded in human rights, inclusion, [...]

In the recently launched Roadmap for Digital Cooperation, the UN Secretary-General (SG) notes that he intends to establish a multistakeholder advisory board on global artificial intelligence (AI) co-operation. The body would provide guidance to the SG and the broader international community on AI that is 'trustworthy, human-rights based, safe and sustainable and promotes peace'. It [...]

During its 31st plenary session, the EDPB announced its decision to establish a taskforce to coordinate potential actions and to acquire a more comprehensive overview of TikTok’s processing and practices across the EU. The EDPB indicates that it has already issued guidelines and recommendations that should be taken into account by all data controllers whose [...]

The Technology Coalition, a consortium of 18 global companies that includes Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft,  Google, PayPal, Snapchat, Adobe, GoDaddy, and more. Announcing  a renewed plan to eradicate online child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA) through the Project Protect.  Project Protect will be executing a strategic “Five Pillar’ plan focused on tech innovation, collective action, [...]

An article published by Privacy International has analysed a new law that has been adopted by the parliament of Niger that seeks to restrict communications in the country, and has made some recommendations regarding it. According to the article, the main highlights of the bill that was passed on 29 May 2020 are that: the [...]

The European Commission commenced an open public consultation on the Digital Services Act (DSA) legislative package, expected to be finalized by the end of 2020. The DSA legislative package is expected to reinforce the single market for digital services, upgrade EU’s liability and safety rules for digital platforms, and provide smaller businesses with the legal [...]

The EU launched a public consultation on the Digital Services Act, a package to strengthen the Single Market for digital services, and foster innovation and competitiveness of the European online environment. The consultation, which is open until 8 September 2020, aims to collect views, evidence, and data from different stakeholders, including academia, civil society, private [...]

Following the announcement that the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26)  to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is being postponed to November 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic; a number of climate change experts have called for the digitalisation of climate change diplomacy. They highlighted that this moment is a unique opportunity [...]