Nepal’s escalating digital repression sparks deadly crackdown

In Nepal, at least 22 people have been killed, and more than a hundred injured, in a violent police crackdown on anti-corruption protests inflamed by the government’s decision to impose a sweeping social media ban. While the ban has since been lifted, and Nepal’s prime minister has resigned, this was only the latest assault in a pattern of escalating digital repression. Read our statement calling for a full, independent investigation of how deadly force and digital tools were used against protesters, and a permanent end to internet shutdowns in Nepal. Read more via Access Now

How a movement against corruption on Nepali social media triggered unrest and death

The government imposed its deadly social media ban after most foreign social media companies missed a deadline to register their operations in the country — a requirement that can facilitate state censorship, running counter to Nepal’s “democratic aspirations and constitutional guarantees.” Felicia Anthonio, who leads the #KeepItOn campaign at Access Now, spoke to Rest of World about how governments use platform blocking to silence people fighting government corruption and social inequality, an increasingly common authoritarian tactic deployed by “both democratic and authoritarian regimes.” Read more via Rest of World

Lives on hold: internet shutdowns in 2024

“During times of political unrest, the streets become dangerous. Without internet access, I have no way to stay informed about what’s happening.” This is the voice of a professor in Venezuela, just one of millions impacted by protest-related shutdowns in 2024, when protests were the second-most common trigger for governments flipping the kill switch. Learn more about how authorities wield shutdowns to quell protests, stifle dissent, disrupt independence movements, and restrict fundamental rights. Read more via Access Now

Who’s funding digital cages?

The internet coup: how a Chinese company is exporting the great firewall to autocratic regimes

Joint research conducted by our #KeepItOn partner InterSecLab among others reveals that Geedge Networks, a company linked to the architects of China’s mass censorship infrastructure, sells similar censorship systems to governments around the world, including Pakistan and Myanmar. These systems allow authorities to block websites and VPNs, as well as to spy on specific individuals — creating “the foundation for a federated system of internet governance.” READ MORE via InterSecLab

Silicon Valley enabled brutal mass detention and surveillance in China, internal documents show

A new investigation by the Associated Press reveals how U.S. technology companies helped to build China’s digital cages. The research shows that over the past 25 years, U.S. companies like IBM, Dell, Cisco, and HP sold billions of dollars worth of technologies to Chinese police, governments, and surveillance companies, despite the known risk of enabling human rights violations — including against members of the Uyghur ethnic minority, whose every move is monitored and scored in Chinese state efforts to erase their ethnic identity. Read MORE via AP

Mythical beasts: diving into the depths of the global spyware market

Not only have U.S. companies sold surveillance tech to China and other countries with poor human rights records, U.S. investors are increasingly backing dangerous commercial spyware. According to new research from the Atlantic Council, U.S. investment now outpaces that of Israel, Italy, and the UK. The investments include AE Industrial Partners’ majority ownership of Paragon Solutions, which makes spyware that has been used against journalists and human rights defenders, and now holds an active contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Read more via The Atlantic Council

No digital rights for EU?

When “deregulation” threatens human rights, civil society fights back

Ahead of this week’s traditional State of the Union speech by European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, Access Now joined with European Digital Rights (EDRi) and more than 460 other civil society, trade unions, and public interest groups in calling for the EU to stand up for rights-based rules that protect people and the planet and reject corporate lobbying attempts to undo a decade of progress on digital rights. Read more via EDRi

Sisi could #FreeAlaa

Egypt's Sisi orders authorities to study pardon for activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah

Digital rights activists have spent more than a decade pushing for Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah’s release from prison. Now, a year after Alaa completed his most recent unjust sentence, Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has finally ordered authorities to study the possibility of pardoning him. Read his story and support his family’s demands for his freedom. Read more via Reuters

One last thing: don’t stop fighting

Cindy Cohn is leaving the EFF, but not the fight for digital rights

If there’s one Express item you read this week, we hope it’s this WIRED interview with Cindy Cohn of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), an organization that has shaped the fight for digital rights for over three decades. Cohn talks about why she’s stepping down as executive director, about the battles that remain unfinished, and about why now is the time to get involved: “So the first thing I would say to somebody if they were thinking about becoming a digital rights advocate is this: We need you.” Read more via WIRED

Opportunities and other highlights

FINAL CALL: RightsCon 2026 call for proposals

Good news: you can still help shape the agenda for RightsCon 2026 (May 5–8, Lusaka, Zambia, and online). The deadline to submit a session proposal has been extended to September 19. Learn more and submit your proposal now! Read more via Access Now

APPLY: 2026 Tech Policy Press fellowship program

Are you a journalist, researcher, lawyer, or public policy professional interested in exploring the intersection of technology and democracy? Then apply to join the Tech Policy Press 2026 fellowship cohort. The year-long, part-time fellowship supports participants to pursue independent reporting and analysis projects, with a USD $10,000 stipend. Learn more and apply by October 15. Read more via Tech Policy Press