"Drawing on a broad range of case studies across the continent, the volume considers what constitutes communication rights in Africa, who should protect them, against whom, and how communication rights relate to broader human rights. While the case studies highlight the variation in communicative ri
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ghts experiences between countries, they also coalesce around common tropes and practices for the implementation and expression of communication rights. Deploying a variety of innovative theoretical and methodological approaches, the chapters scrutinise different facets of communication rights in the context of both offline and digital communication realities. The contributions provide illuminating accounts on language rights, digital exclusion, digital activism, citizen journalism, media regulation and censorship, protection of intellectual property rights, politics of mobile data, and politicisation of social media." (Publisher description)
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"Media freedom has deteriorated across the world over the past 15 years with populist leaders attacking journalism in both democratic and repressive states. Since the rise of online misinformation and disinformation, concern is growing that governments are using fake news language and related laws t
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o muzzle the press. Studies find labelling reporters and their stories as fake news can threaten journalistic norms and practices and have implications for trust relationships with sources and audiences. Less understood is the effects of fake news laws on journalism. This article addresses this gap and examines consequences for journalistic practices in Singapore and Indonesia when journalists and sources are targets of fake news laws. Through 20 in-depth expert interviews with journalists, editors, their sources and fake news experts in Indonesia and Singapore, the article identifies “chill effects” on reporting when faced with the threat of new legal sanctions. However, it also identifies adaptations to newsroom practices to manage this threat. We conclude with lessons learned from the Asia Pacific on how journalists in other jurisdictions might manage the potential chilling effects on news reporting when fake news laws are in place." (Abstract)
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"[This is] a series of short issue briefs for funders on potential priority areas for funding activities or initiatives that would bring the work of digital rights organisations and environmental justice actors closer together. Each brief states the key problem from the perspective of the APC networ
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k, suggests mechanisms or processes for engagement and actors we feel are worth engaging, and includes specific recommendations for donors." (Overview, page 3)
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"In sub-Saharan Africa, 495 million people (46 percent of the population) subscribed to mobile phones in 2020, however, the cost of accessing the internet is very high and many African Governments are renowned for restricting access to the internet to limit critics and their opposition through inter
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net shutdowns, especially ahead of elections. There is widespread government surveillance in many countries in Africa without sufficient legal basis. In Zimbabwe, for example, the interception of private communications is permitted without a warrant issued by a court; instead, the Minister of Transport and Communication has the power to order such surveillance. Many countries in Africa and around the world have passed cybercrime legislation in recent years or are about to do so. There is great concern that many of these laws over-reach their legitimate aim, lack clear definitions and are susceptible to being used for regulating online content and restricting freedom of expression." (Page 1)
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"Este trabajo tiene como objetivo avanzar en la comprensión de una serie de casos del Sistema Interamericano de extraordinario contenido y valor para fortalecer el rol de los jueces en la prevención de situaciones que vulneren el derecho a libertad de expresión, el acceso a la información, así
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como la protección de periodistas." (Introducción)
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"El presente artículo plantea la necesidad de entender de manera integral el derecho a la comunicación y de recopilar los puntos que, desde el sector de medios comunitarios, se consideran fundamentales para que no existan retrocesos en la legislación de comunicación." (Página 2)
"With the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Markets Act (DMA) package, the European Union will adopt what is probably the most significant international standard-setting project besides the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). It is expected that the DSA will have far-reaching impact
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beyond the EU. This legal opinion deals with concrete questions on the effectiveness of the DSA, as well as in the areas of conflict with freedom of communication and dissemination of disinformation. The opinion concerns the draft published by the European Commission in December 2020." (Executive summary, page 5)
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"This paper discusses whether data trusts are feasible structures in an African context, concluding that there are significant limitations to a straight import of trust models developed elsewhere. It goes on to outline specific considerations that should be prioritised in the development of bottom u
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p and collective models of data governance on the continent, whether adopting a formal trust structure or not. This is done through a brief overview of data trusts and looking at data rights in Africa with particular focus on South Africa's data protection law. The paper then delves into the contentions of a Global South and Global North approach by highlighting the limitations of data trusts in an African context. It argues that the development of data trusts could still offer critical benefits especially when informed by African values and historical contexts. Making use of international instruments (Banjul Charter), principles (CARE) and values (Ubuntu), the paper emphasises the importance of collective decision-making relating to data and concludes with recommendations on collective and participatory governance, women's empowerment and capacity-building, to highlight how the alignment of data trusts to African contexts could help balance historical power differentials in the digital age." (Page 2)
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"The aim of this report is to provide a landscape scan of how an extremely diverse set of communities and movements are working at intersections of technology, digital rights, environmental justice and climate justice. The report’s primary audiences are grantmakers and practitioners working in or
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adjacent to the digital rights sector interested in understanding how to centre environmental/climate justice in their work going forward. Secondary intended audiences are grantmakers and practitioners with an environmental or climate focus who are interested in exploring the intersections between their work and that of the digital rights sector. The report aims to provide qualitative insight on the needs of and challenges faced by practitioners engaged in work spanning digital rights, tech and environmental/climate justice issues. It also aims to identify opportunities for digital rights funders to provide impactful support that is grounded in the real-world experiences of different communities and movements engaged in the fight for climate and environmental justice." (Introduction, page 5-6)
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"The pandemic made inequality, discrimination, exclusion and structural inequity more palpable, and rather than stagnating in indignation, it reactivated a sense of rebellion and contestation. The strength and sharpness with which we connect social justice, gender justice, environmental justice, eco
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nomic justice and racial justice with the potentials and limitations of digital technologies is undeniable. Using this intersectional lens, we need to document and build our own narratives about the challenges that we face related to the impacts of the pandemic and reflect on how our advocacy priorities as well as the ways we do advocacy are changing and keep being modified and adjusted. At APC we have strengthened capacity to design and implement collective and contextual community responses to the multiple challenges and crises that we face, while having a greater awareness of the kind of global responses that should be prioritised, based on shared but differentiated responsibilities [...] GISWatch 2021-2022 focuses on responses to some of the fundamental questions brought by the pandemic to inform civil society’s advocacy around digital technology issues and their potential to shape future horizons. As illustrated on our cover, a sustained struggle will be necessary in the years ahead, but not only in the public spaces. A nuanced approach to advocacy will be essential to open multiple ways to bring about positive change." (Preface, page 6)
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"Este livro apresenta as discussões promovidas no âmbito do 44º Ciclo de Estudos Interdisciplinares da Comunicação, evento integrante do 44º Congresso Brasileiro de Ciências da Comunicação, realizado de 4 a 9 de outubro de 2021, em modo virtual, pela Universidade Católica de Pernambuco. Em
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2021, o tema do Congresso da INTERCOM foi Comunicação e resistência: práticas de liberdade para a cidadania. O Ciclo de Estudos foi aberto com uma conferência sobre o tema do Congresso e seguiu-se a realização de quatro mesas. O livro traz as reflexões propostas pela conferencista principal, a professora Nita Freire e os quatro convidados de cada uma das quatro mesas, totalizando 17 textos, ao final." (INTERCOM)
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"This book frames digital sovereignty as a right to be claimed and a process constantly in the making, as a condition of the ability to critically partake in the digital transformation. Emphasizing a political and transformative significance of the term, this interdisciplinary publication gathers sc
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holars, activists, artists and human rights advocates who develop practices or provide spaces and structures to foster sophisticated means of digital involvement. Its aim is to identify diverse facets of what it means to be digitally sovereign, but also to critically discuss the viability of the term, especially in the light of modern-day crises and for the many future challenges yet to come. The positions assembled in this volume analyze new opportunities for social participation and policy making and recommend alternative technological and social practices utilized by various groups and collectives – both before and after COVID-19." (Introduction, page 13)
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"En este texto nos preguntamos, en concreto, por los efectos de la desigualdad económica en el acceso a las tecnologías digitales, en especial a Internet y, por ende, a los derechos que se ejercen a través suyo. También nos preguntamos por la caracterización jurídica del acceso a Internet, tan
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to en el plano internacional de los derechos humanos como en el plano local del derecho constitucional, y por la relación que pueda existir entre esta caracterización jurídica y su potencialidad para reducir las desigualdades. En el contexto de la sociedad de la información, el estudio de la desigualdad económica nos conduce a precisar las diferencias en función de las condiciones del acceso efectivo a las tecnologías digitales, en concreto a Internet, su gran e indiscutible protagonista. El acceso a Internet visto y entendido como el medio para acceder a bienes y servicios, para el ejercicio de los derechos humanos, para la realización de actividades significativas, para aumentar la productividad y —en general— para concretar las promesas del desarrollo y de la participación efectiva en el progreso científico y sus beneficios. Este texto busca realizar una aproximación teórica al problema de las desigualdades en el acceso a Internet desde dos miradas. Por un lado, desde la idea de la brecha digital y, por otro, desde la búsqueda de la (mejor) caracterización jurídica del acceso a Internet, que pueda, en tal contexto, servir de herramienta en la toma de decisiones orientadas a la reducción de las desigualdades y al cierre de la brecha digital." (Introducción, página 25-26)
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