Net Discrimination

Fighting for Net Neutrality

Paid “fast lanes” for the internet undermine free expression and innovation. Internet access should be offered to everyone on a nondiscriminatory basis, without favoring certain websites, applications, services, or business models.  We advocate for net neutrality to ensure access to a free and open internet around the world.

Civil society won’t back down: the fight for net neutrality continues in California

Internet service providers (ISPs) oppose SB 822, which grants California residents the best net neutrality protections in the United States.

Resources

Access Now theme

Connectivity

Zero rating: a global threat to the open internet

We discuss two primary models for “zero rating” — both of which are a form of network discrimination and harm human rights.

EU Ukraine

Connectivity

Open letter to the EU: protect people affected by Russia’s attack on Ukraine

In a letter to the EU, Access Now provides recommendations related to tech platforms and telecoms operators in the context of the war in Ukraine.

internet gateway

Data Protection

Cambodia should scrap rights-abusing National Internet Gateway

Access Now and a coalition of rights organizations call on Cambodia to revoke plans to establish an internet gateway.

Latest Updates

Keep It On Gabon

တော်လှန်ရေးဒေသတချို့က ကန့်သတ်ခံ စတားလင့်ခ်အင်တာနက်နဲ့ လုံခြုံရေးပြဿနာ

11 Nov 2025
News
တော်လှန်ရေးဒေသတချို့က ကန့်သတ်ခံ စတားလင့်ခ်အင်တာနက်နဲ့ လုံခြုံရေးပြဿနာ
BBC ↗
11 Nov 2025
တော်လှန်ရေးဒေသတချို့က ကန့်သတ်ခံ စတားလင့်ခ်အင်တာနက်နဲ့ လုံခြုံရေးပြဿနာ
Data Protection
Data Protection

EU Parliament committee votes to advance controversial Europol data sharing proposal

7 Nov 2025
News
EU Parliament committee votes to advance controversial Europol data sharing proposal
The Record ↗
7 Nov 2025
EU Parliament committee votes to advance controversial Europol data sharing proposal
Cameroon
Internet Shutdowns
Internet Shutdowns

How an internet blackout affected Tanzania’s election

5 Nov 2025
News
How an internet blackout affected Tanzania’s election
Context News ↗
5 Nov 2025
How an internet blackout affected Tanzania’s election
Cameroon
Internet Shutdowns
Internet Shutdowns

#KeepItOn: Authorities in Nigeria must reconnect people in Zamfara North now

4 Nov 2025

Access Now and the global #KeepItOn coalition are dismayed by reports of ongoing internet disruptions in Nigeria’s Zamfara North and demand that authorities immediately restore access across the senatorial district. 

Press Release
#KeepItOn: Authorities in Nigeria must reconnect people in Zamfara North now
4 Nov 2025
#KeepItOn: Authorities in Nigeria must reconnect people in Zamfara North now
Bodily harms: how AI and biometrics curtail human rights PR header
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence

ملتقى «خبز ونت»: معركة الحقيقة في ميادين التكنولوجيا

29 Oct 2025
News
ملتقى «خبز ونت»: معركة الحقيقة في ميادين التكنولوجيا
Al Akhbar ↗
29 Oct 2025
ملتقى «خبز ونت»: معركة الحقيقة في ميادين التكنولوجيا
Cameroon
Internet Shutdowns
Internet Shutdowns

The bizarre history of internet outages

29 Oct 2025
News
The bizarre history of internet outages
BBC ↗
29 Oct 2025
The bizarre history of internet outages
Cameroon
Internet Shutdowns
Internet Shutdowns

#KeepItOn: Authorities in Tanzania must commit to unrestricted access to the internet during elections

28 Oct 2025

In an open letter to President Samia Suluhu, Access Now and the #KeepItOn coalition are urging authorities in Tanzania to uphold human rights and ensure open and secure access to the internet and digital communications before, during, and after the upcoming elections on October 29, 2025, to guarantee a participatory and transparent electoral process.

Press Release
#KeepItOn: Authorities in Tanzania must commit to unrestricted access to the internet during elections
28 Oct 2025
#KeepItOn: Authorities in Tanzania must commit to unrestricted access to the internet during elections
Cameroon
Internet Shutdowns
Internet Shutdowns

#KeepItOn: Government of Tanzania must ensure unrestricted internet access throughout upcoming elections

28 Oct 2025

We, the undersigned organizations and members of the #KeepItOn coalition — a global network of over 345 organizations from 106 countries working to end internet shutdowns —  appeal to you, President Dr. Samia Suluhu Hassan, to publicly commit to ensuring that people in the Republic of Tanzania have unfettered access to the internet, digital platforms, and all other communication channels throughout the upcoming elections on October 29, 2025. 

Press Release
#KeepItOn: Government of Tanzania must ensure unrestricted internet access throughout upcoming elections
28 Oct 2025
#KeepItOn: Government of Tanzania must ensure unrestricted internet access throughout upcoming elections
Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity

US to attend UN cybercrime treaty signing in Hanoi despite industry concerns

27 Oct 2025
News
US to attend UN cybercrime treaty signing in Hanoi despite industry concerns
The Record ↗
27 Oct 2025
US to attend UN cybercrime treaty signing in Hanoi despite industry concerns
TRI Alternative Header without logo
Transparency
Transparency

Taking stock of Big Tech: the 2025 RDR Index

21 Oct 2025

Big Tech needs to step up. We’re pushing companies in the 2025 RDR Index to do better on human rights.

Post
Taking stock of Big Tech: the 2025 RDR Index
21 Oct 2025
Taking stock of Big Tech: the 2025 RDR Index
Spyware
Surveillance
Surveillance

The U.S. has reactivated its Paragon contract  — and it should alarm everyone

15 Oct 2025
Post
The U.S. has reactivated its Paragon contract  — and it should alarm everyone
15 Oct 2025
The U.S. has reactivated its Paragon contract  — and it should alarm everyone
AI Action Summit
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence

Courts don’t know what to do about AI crimes

15 Oct 2025
News
Courts don’t know what to do about AI crimes
Rest of World ↗
15 Oct 2025
Courts don’t know what to do about AI crimes
Sweden
Privacy
Privacy

Africa Policy and Advocacy Manager Naro Omo Osagie explains the looming threat of anti-encryption policies

15 Oct 2025
News
Africa Policy and Advocacy Manager Naro Omo Osagie explains the looming threat of anti-encryption policies
Global Voices ↗
15 Oct 2025
Africa Policy and Advocacy Manager Naro Omo Osagie explains the looming threat of anti-encryption policies
We, the undersigned human rights organizations, are writing with great concern regarding media reporting alleging that Microsoft has contributed to grave violations of international law perpetrated by the Israeli authorities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT).
Transparency
Transparency

Microsoft must come clean on its role in Israel’s war on Gaza

10 Oct 2025

We, the undersigned human rights organizations, are writing with great concern regarding media reporting alleging that Microsoft has contributed to grave violations of international law perpetrated by the Israeli authorities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT).

Press Release
Microsoft must come clean on its role in Israel’s war on Gaza
10 Oct 2025
Microsoft must come clean on its role in Israel’s war on Gaza
Microsoft Gaza
Transparency
Transparency

Human rights groups demand answers from Microsoft on its role in Israel’s war on Gaza

10 Oct 2025

Access Now and partners urged Microsoft to immediately end any involvement with Israeli authorities’ systemic repression of Palestinians.

Press Release
Human rights groups demand answers from Microsoft on its role in Israel’s war on Gaza
10 Oct 2025
Human rights groups demand answers from Microsoft on its role in Israel’s war on Gaza
Cameroon
Internet Shutdowns
Internet Shutdowns

All eyes on Cameroon: #KeepItOn during upcoming elections

8 Oct 2025

We urge authorities in Cameroon to ensure reliable, continuous, open, and secure internet access before, during, and after the upcoming elections.

Press Release
All eyes on Cameroon: #KeepItOn during upcoming elections
8 Oct 2025
All eyes on Cameroon: #KeepItOn during upcoming elections