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How Uganda’s anti-LGBTQ+ laws entrap people online
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When governments use the internet to spy on and control queer people’s intimacies, expressions, and very existence, it violates their human rights — and the companies behind digital apps and services aren’t doing enough to protect them. Ahead of International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT), we’re sharing cases of digital entrapment in Uganda to show how current laws and corporate policies harm LGBTQ+ people, and offering recommendations to help keep them safe. Read more via Access Now
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Between borders and lies: what fact-checkers experience in India and Pakistan
Tech Policy Press talks to two experts — Pratik Sinha from India’s Alt News and Asad Baig from Pakistan’s Media Matters for Democracy — about how the India-Pakistan conflict is playing out across digital platforms, and what it reveals about the information ecosystem as a whole. Read more via Tech Policy Press
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The digital war on migrants
#ProtectNotSurveil: MEPs must vote against expanding Europol’s surveillance powers
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: increasing surveillance won’t protect people — it will only give Europol more power and erode human rights. Together with our #ProtectNotSurveil partners, we’re urging members of the European Parliament to vote against the planned expansion of powers in a vote this coming Tuesday, May 20 in the Civil Liberties Committee. Read the coalition’s policy brief, co-authored by Access Now’s Caterina Rodelli, EDRi’s Chloé Berthélémy, and IT-Pol’s Jesper Lund, to learn why the plan would further harm migrants and humanitarian actors, while failing to counter organized smuggling networks. Read more via #ProtectNotSurveil
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Fighting the techno-fascists
More than 200 organizations speak out against “nonprofit killer” clause in U.S. tax bill
Demonizing and defunding civil society organizations is a common tactic of authoritarian governments that want to silence their critics. In the U.S., where critics of the current administration are warning about the rise of techno-facism, members of Congress are considering a tax bill with a clause to enable the Secretary of the Treasury to accuse any nonprofit of being a “terrorist supporting organization” without due process — a pathway to denial of tax-exempt status and de-banking. On Wednesday, we joined 200+ nonprofits urging removal of the provision, arguing “No president should have the power this bill provides to punish their political opponents.” Read more via Stop Government Censorship
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Funding the resistance
The MacArthur Foundation’s John Palfrey talks to The Guardian about the need for philanthropic organizations to increase funding for civil society groups, and to stand together on “very important bedrock principles” such as freedom of speech. “I very much hope that those of us who have the right to speak freely, as we do in America, will do so,” he says. “It’s one of those things: you have to use it or lose it.” Read more via The Guardian
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In Russia, no victory for digital rights
#KeepItOn: Kremlin must end internet shutdowns during national events
A victory parade is never a sufficient excuse to block access to essential services, interfere with people’s human rights, and disrupt the lives of millions. But that’s exactly what Russian authorities did when they shut down mobile networks for five days for a Victory Day celebration. Together with our #KeepItOn partners, we're pushing back. Read our joint open letter in English or Russian. Read more via Access Now
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Rights groups sue to stop internet shutdowns in Kenya
Now for the good news: as we prepared this newsletter, we learned that seven organizations filed a lawsuit challenging internet shutdowns in Kenya — and they won a court order stopping all parties being sued from interfering with internet access until the case is heard and decided. Bravo! Read more via BAKE
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Opportunities and other highlights
NEXT WEEK: “Technologies at war: the role of Big Tech companies and the EU in facilitating war crimes and genocide in Gaza”
We hope you join us next week for a panel discussion at this year’s CPDP ("Computers, Privacy and Data Protection") summit in Brussels, Belgium. Moderated by Access Now’s Daniel Leufer, and featuring insights from experts including Access Now's Marwa Fatafta, the panel will focus on the use of AI and the challenge of resisting complicity in the tech-facilitated war on Gaza. The panel takes place May 23 at 14:15-15:30 local time. Learn more and register. Read more via CPDP
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