India’s move against Bitchat sparks legal debate amid protests

India’s CJP protests meet internet shutdowns and pervasive surveillance

Everyone should be free to exercise their fundamental rights safely. Yet Indian authorities are using dangerous, rights-harming network shutdowns and pervasive AI-powered surveillance to assert control. EDRi’s Amber Sinha looks at how these measures are reshaping civic space — restricting people’s freedom to communicate, document events, and organize. In case you missed it, check out our Digital Security Toolkit for tips on staying safer while participating in protests. Read more via Tech Policy Press

Telegram phishing campaign targeted exiled Belarusian activist, Russians, and Kazakhstanis

Sometimes, a single personalized message is enough to compromise an account and expose entire communities to surveillance and repression. New research from RESIDENT.ngo documents a phishing campaign targeting an exiled Belarusian activist, as well as people in Russia and Kazakhstan, through their Telegram accounts. The campaign is part of a larger pattern of attacks against Russian and Belarusian civil society, underscoring the need for increased awareness of phishing tactics and support for digital security. Read more via The Record

U.S. Congress must enact meaningful reform of Section 702 to protect privacy — regardless of who’s in charge

Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) has been used to give U.S. authorities backdoor access to people’s communications without a warrant, and it’s badly in need of reform. This week, we joined more than 20 leading rights groups in a letter reminding the U.S. Congress of the danger of concentrating government authority without basic safeguards — a dire threat to people’s privacy and constitutional rights no matter who is responsible for surveillance oversight. Read more via Demand Progress

EU’s high-risk AI database pushed back to mid-to-late 2027

Civil society organizations including Access Now warned against weakening digital rights protections in the EU via the so-called AI Omnibus, calling for its rejection. Now the negative impacts of the European Commission's deregulation efforts in the guise of simplification are becoming more tangible. Not only were companies’ high-risk obligations pushed back to December 2027, a key transparency safeguard under the weakened EU AI Act — implementation of a database where companies publicly register high-risk systems — has reportedly been delayed until mid-to-late 2027. Read more via Euractiv

READ: “Civil society read-out report on 1st UN Global Dialogue on AI Governance”

Earlier this month, the United Nations held the first Global Dialogue on AI Governance. The policy group Global Partners Digital (GPD) has now published a new civil society report on the UN event, summarizing the AI governance recommendations from five civil society coalitions: the Global Digital Rights Coalition (of which we are a member), the Global Digital Justice Forum, the Global South Alliance, MAP-AI, and the civil society members of the Gender in Digital Coalition. Check out what these coalitions have to say about how to advance inclusive, rights-based, and effective global AI governance. Read more via GPD 

WATCH: “Indigenous AI Gathering 2026”

“AI is not inevitable. The systems, business models, and priorities shaping it are choices, and communities have the right to question, refuse, and reimagine them.” Those are reflections from Access Now’s Alejandro Mayoral Baños on the Indigenous AI Gathering 2026, which took place mid-July in Canada. For more Indigenous perspectives on AI, check out the video capturing sessions moderated by Baños and other experts. Watch via Mila - Institut québécois d'IA

ICYMI: “A recipe for AI with a Latin American flavor”

Access Now’s Franco Giandana Gigena, who presented our oral statement at the UN Global Dialogue on AI Governance, analyzes the rollout of Latam-GPT and outlines a vision for AI development and governance suited to the Latin American context. (In Spanish.) Read more via Access Now

AI and democracy: the right to resist optimization

What if AI’s biggest threat isn’t that machines are imitating humans, but that humans adapt themselves to machines? Taiwan’s Cyber Ambassador Audrey Tang explores that central question in a powerful, thought-provoking piece for The Humanist Review, warning that “a society that prizes only optimization will eventually pathologize everything that protects reflective life.” Read more via The Humanist Review

Heads up: for the month of August, we will publish every two weeks instead of weekly. We’ll be back to our regular weekly schedule in September, bringing you the stories, resources, and insights shaping the global fight for digital rights. Thank you for staying connected with us — and if you think your colleagues would like this newsletter, please forward this email and share our subscription link.

LAST CHANCE: submit your proposal for Bread&Net

The theme for this year’s Bread&Net summit on October 14-16 (Beirut and online) is “reimagining reality” — an opportunity for participants to explore what a more rights-respecting digital future could look like across the West Asia and North Africa (WANA) region. The deadline for proposing a session is August 1, so don’t wait: submit your idea today. Read more via Bread&Net