Venezuelan authorities must end their violent crackdown on dissent

Since the contested presidential elections in Venezuela, incumbent president Nicolás Maduro has intensified his efforts to steal the election, acting ruthlessly to silence those questioning his claim, and using extensive surveillance apparatus to target, intimidate, and suppress pro-democracy voices. Access Now and +100 civil society organizations and individuals demand an immediate end to surveillance and censorship, digital repression, and human rights violations. “Authorities in Venezuela are abusing their power to target individuals who have an opinion they do not like,” says Access Now’s Marianne Díaz Hernández. “It is dangerous and will only lead to more violence.” Read our press release (in English or Spanish) and our open letter (in English or Spanish). Read more via Access Now

Dig deeper

Tech companies set dangerous precedent with app for reporting anti-government protesters

Nicolás Maduro’s government has been encouraging Venezuelans to “snitch” on their neighbors for participating in pro-democracy protests or engaging in opposition activities, using government-owned VenApp. As Amnesty International explains, and as we emphasize in our open letter, this was originally launched in 2022 for the public to share complaints about power outages or medical emergencies, but has been repurposed with features allowing people to report anything from protests to the spread of “disinformation,” often targeting journalists. Read more via Amnesty International

How Venezuela became a model for digital authoritarianism

Even before the most recent elections, Venezuela’s media ecosystem was marked by censorship and efforts to curtail freedom of speech, both online and off. A new report by the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab) analyzes how the country has backslid into authoritarianism, establishing its own playbook for digital repression. Read more via Atlantic Council

Tech-fueled violence

UK’s internet regulator warns social media platforms over risks of inciting violence

After days of far-right, anti-immigration, and Islamophobic riots in cities across the United Kingdom, ostensibly sparked by the murder of three children in Southport, the UK’s internet regulator, Ofcom, has warned social media platforms and video sharing platforms that allowing their platforms to be used to “stir up hatred [and] provoke violence” is illegal, and that they will face consequences. This follows waves of online misinformation about the identity of the Southport attacker, amplified and escalated across social media feeds, which soon spilled out onto the streets. Read more via TechCrunch

An algorithm told police she was safe. Then her husband killed her.

Around the world, law enforcement are applying AI in their work, from trying to predict future crimes, to targeting people suspected of social welfare fraud. In Spain this extends to “scoring” victims of domestic violence based on how likely they are to be abused again, and assigning protection accordingly. But as an investigation by The New York Times reveals, the use of this system absolves the police of accountability and responsibility for their decisions, with life-or-death consequences when they, and the algorithm, get it wrong. Read more via The New York Times

A high score for surveillance

Olympics’ AI security stokes backlash over mass surveillance

The European Union’s AI Act came into force this week; a flawed law with loopholes and exemptions for law enforcement’s use of AI. The incoming rules appeared to be no deterrent to French authorities, however, who enacted their own national laws ahead of the ongoing Paris Olympics, allowing police to use AI-based video surveillance tools. As Access Now and other civil society critics pointed out long before the Opening Ceremony, the measures enabled by these laws threaten “the very essence of the right to privacy and data protection.” Now there are growing concerns that the shiny new surveillance infrastructure will persist long after the last medals are awarded and the final finish line is crossed. Read more via Bloomberg

The AI keeps the score

AI isn’t just being used to secure sporting events, it's applied to improve them too. The Verge digs into how the same AI tools trained to improve and judge elite gymnasts’ performance on the mat are subsequently “repurposed and resold as a tool of surveillance,” making it “a solution in search of profit.” Read more via The Verge

Bumble fumbles privacy

Civil society urges Bumble to take privacy seriously

Access Now has joined the Mozilla Foundation in calling on dating app Bumble to step up when it comes to its unclear privacy practices, which are undermining a stated commitment to gender justice. Dating apps collect huge amounts of intimate data, which can all too easily fall into the wrong hands — a huge risk for people seeking reproductive health care, survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV), or members of the LGBTQ+ community. People deserve to know if Bumble sells their data, and if so, to whom, and they should be able to opt-in to such sharing or selling. Read more via Mozilla Foundation

Understanding migration and exile

#MigrarSinVigilancia glossary (in Spanish)

Migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers are criminalized, profiled, and subject to invasive digital surveillance, at and beyond borders. As part of our ongoing #MigrarSinVigilancia campaign, Access Now has launched a Spanish-language glossary of terms to help the digital rights community better understand basic concepts related to “smart borders,” migration, and surveillance through a human rights lens. Read more via Access Now

READ “The Saudi diaspora: a growing community of emigrés and refugees”

Human rights organization ALQST for Human Rights has shared results from a survey of Saudi nationals living in exile, many of whom fled the country due to its lack of political and religious freedoms, or for fear of reprisals due to their activism or sexual orientation. More than 90% of the people surveyed said they would not feel safe returning to the country, while over a third said they either been surveilled or harassed online while in exile. Read more via ALQST

Opportunities and other highlights

A new approach to registration for RightsCon 2025

The RightsCon team has a new date for your diaries! Registration for RightsCon 2025 (taking place February 24-27 in Taipei, Taiwan, and online) will open next Wednesday, August 14. The team has already shared details of how this year's registration process will work, along with an overview of updates to ticket types, and information on our commitment to accessibility and transparency. Read more via RightsCon

FINAL CALL Pulitzer Center AI Accountability Fellowships

Are you a journalist looking to report more on the impact of algorithms and automated systems in your community? Then apply for a Pulitzer Center AI Accountability Fellowship, which could award you up to USD 20,000 to pursue your project. Don’t delay: the deadline to apply is tomorrow, August 10. Apply via Pulitzer Center

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