On 28 February, the fourth Global Standards Symposium (GSS-20) brought together – in Geneva and online – stakeholders from governments, the private sector, the technical community, academia, and civil society, to discuss the role of international standards in enabling digital transformation and achieving the sustainable development goals. The long-day discussions were reflected in a series [...]
According to a news report, following the invasion efforts by Russia on Ukraine which started just before midnight on Wednesday 23 February 2022, many civil society groups are worried about a possibility of direct attacks on the country’s internet infrastructure which would potentially limit information access on what is happening in Ukraine. Already, according to [...]
Thusiyan Nandakumar, the Tamil Guardian’s editor said that over the past several years, Facebook has twice suspended the publication’s Instagram account and removed dozens of its posts without warning — each time claiming a violation of the Dangerous Individuals and Organisations (DIO) policy. The censorship comes at a time of heightened scrutiny of this policy [...]
Over 110 civil society organisations have laid out proposals to strengthen the protection of fundamental rights in the European Commission’s Artificial Intelligence Act. The statement, drafted by European Digital Rights (EDRi), Access Now, AlgorithmWatch, and others, outlines several recommendations. Among them is a call to introduce robust mechanisms to deal with unacceptable and limited-risk AI [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Civil Society Alliances for Digital Empowerment (CADE) is a project co-funded by the European Union.
