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Ahead of general election, YouTube approves disinformation ads in India
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How we tested YouTube’s election disinformation defenses
Access Now and Global Witness submitted 48 ads to YouTube in three official Indian languages: English, Hindi, and Telugu. Each ad contained content explicitly prohibited by YouTube’s elections misinformation policies, yet they were all accepted. Speaking to TIME, Access Now’s Namrata Maheshwari points out that even the English-language ads were approved. This shows that “the problem is not the language — it’s more also a problem of which countries they’re choosing to focus on,” she says. Read more via TIME
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What threats have you faced that target LGBTQ+ communities in Africa?
In Africa and around the world, LGBTQ+ people face specific threats online, from entrapment and doxxing, to harassment and arbitrary arrest. We want to hear from the people directly affected, to help inform our work pushing back against anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. If you’re based in Africa and have experienced digital threats due to your gender identity or sexual orientation, consider taking this anonymized survey. Read more via Access Now
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Raising the bar for AI regulations
The UN gets the world to agree on AI safety
It’s imperative that AI systems comply with human rights. Last month, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution that explicitly calls for such compliance. That’s an achievement we shouldn’t take for granted, says Access Now’s Daniel Leufer. “Getting the message across that there are uses of AI that are just incompatible with human rights and cannot be permitted was a battle, and it is good to see that enshrined in something at this level with the level of consensus,” he says. At the same time, Leufer warns, governments may not follow up with sufficiently robust AI regulations, since reaching agreement on the resolution entailed establishing the “lowest agreeable bar” for protecting our rights. Read more via Foreign Policy
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“Lavender”: The AI machine directing Israel’s bombing spree in Gaza
There are no mentions of military applications of AI in the UN resolution; they were purposely excluded. Yet we continue to see the deployment of AI-enabled weapons of war, a direct threat to human rights. A new investigation by +972 Magazine and Local Call reveals that the Israeli military is allegedly using an AI system called “Lavender” to designate thousands of Palestinians suspected militants and mark their homes for airstrikes. According to intelligence sources for the investigation, human review of Lavender’s decisions is nearly non-existent, with personnel devoting only 20 seconds to “rubber-stamping” strikes. Read more via +972 Magazine
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Our bodies, our digital rights
READ: “Digital disparities: the global battle for reproductive rights on social media”
A new report by the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) and MSI Reproductive Choices reveals that in countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America, Meta restricts access to information about contraception and abortion services, while approving ads containing abortion-related disinformation. According to the report, 187 anti-choice ads, mostly paid for by foreign anti-abortion lobbying groups, were viewed more than eight million times. Read more via CCDH
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CVS and Walgreens must protect patient privacy and medical records
U.S. pharmacy chains CVS and Walgreens will soon start selling abortion pill mifepristone. But these chains have reportedly previously shared patients’ health data with law enforcement without a warrant. We joined Fight for the Future (FFTF) and other civil society organizations in an open letter urging CVS and Walgreens to protect patient privacy and medical records. Join us: sign the FFTF petition. Read more via Fight for the Future
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Opportunities and other highlights
LEARN: A tool to track businesses' respect for human rights defenders
Around the world, human rights defenders (HRDs) face intimidation, harassment, and violence, sometimes fatal, in the course of their work. Businesses have a duty to protect HRDs from these attacks. To help clarify what businesses should do, the International Service for Human Rights (ISHR) has launched a set of indicators for assessing and monitoring a company’s efforts to keep HRDs safe. Learn more via ISHR
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