Protests and Online Organizing
The right to protest is essential for the future of human rights, justice, and democracy. Protests and online organizing are evolving in digital spaces, and autocratic governments are responding with attempts to undermine privacy, quell dissent, and punish those who speak out. We demand governments and companies respect and protect our freedom to assemble, associate, and speak freely, online and off. We also offer activists and human rights defenders digital safety tools and resources.
Will the Right to Protest survive its migration online?
The human right to protest is crucial because it is a gateway right — it onboards us to other rights. Even for those who have never participated in a protest, or ever plan to, many of the rights we enjoy today are the result of others in the past exercising their right to protest for those rights.
Resources
Content Governance
New world disorder: digital attacks on freedom of assembly
Access Now’s latest report examines the power — and fragility — of our rights to peaceful assembly and association in the digital era.
Freedom of Expression
Iran: alarm over mass arrests of human rights defenders amidst protests
Civil society call for an end to the deliberate violence and arrests against human rights defenders, journalists, and activists during the Iran protests
Freedom of Expression
At the U.N., a new push to end surveillance of protesters — and protect their lawyers
Digital surveillance is threatening the right to protest worldwide. U.N. human rights expert Clément Voule is fighting for strong encryption and tight restrictions on the use of spyware. Here’s why that push is important for human rights lawyers and the activists they represent.
Freedom of Expression
Arab Spring: ten years in, how can we reclaim the internet as an open space?
The internet played a pivotal role during the Arab Spring protests. But a decade on, the state of internet freedom in many Arab countries has deteriorated. Join us for a virtual conversation to explore the evolution of the digital space from a tool of mobilization to one of repression.
Covid-19
RightsCon spotlight: “The Privatised Panopticon: Workers’ Surveillance in the Digital Age”
In a session with European Digital Rights at RightsCon, we will explore how surveillance technology can make your workplace function like a prison: a privatised panopticon that threatens labour movements and undermines human rights.
Digital Security
Human rights groups ask U.N. to intervene in U.S. crackdown on racial justice protesters
Access Now and partners ask the United Nations to take a stand against the U.S. government’s violent response to peaceful protests.
Digital Security
To #SaveDotOrg, we still need safeguards
Today, NTEN, EFF, and Access Now delivered the following letter to the leaders of ISOC and PIR calling on them to reflect and to take immediate action to adopt the safeguards put forward by the #SaveDotOrg campaign.
Latest Updates
Where to find Access Now at FIFAfrica 2023
COP28: UAE authorities must stop greenwashing human rights abuses
The world must not forget Mahsa Amini
It has been a year since Mahsa Amini died while in the custody of Iran’s “morality police,” leading to waves of protests across the country – and a subsequent crackdown by the country’s rulers against dissent, both offline and online. We’ve mapped some of the troubling trends in Iran’s digital authoritarian playbook.
Open letter: Governments must address UAE human rights abuses ahead of COP28
Access Now and over 200 organizations call on governments to address the UAE’s human rights abuses ahead of COP28.
An open letter to the RightsCon community about RightsCon Costa Rica and what comes next
We explain the challenges and exclusion some participants faced, apologize and take accountability for our role, and share thoughts on the road ahead.
Online platforms must reject Cambodia prime minister’s incitement to violence
Access Now urges digital platforms to remain alert to incendiary behavior and take steps to prevent online violence in Cambodia.
Around the world, threats to LGBTQ+ speech deepen
Joint Statement: Passport and visa systems must not exclude members of the human rights community from cross-border convenings
These discriminatory systems prevent human rights defenders from coming together to advance their work, bring severe hardship and harm to those impacted, and unjustly place the heaviest burden on people from the Global Majority. Join us in taking a stand.
Arrêtez de couper l’internet en Guinée : les autorités doivent garder internet accessible pendant les manifestations
Access Now et la coalition #KeepItOn condamnent fermement les coupures d’internet et la censure des médias dans le pays.
Comunicado conjunto contra la persecución de Oscar Costero
Organizaciones de sociedad civil denuncian la persecución del activista venezolano Oscar Costero
Stop shutting down the internet in Guinea: authorities must #KeepItOn amidst protest
Access Now and the #KeepItOn coalition strongly condemn the internet shutdowns and media censorship in the country.
Tech and conflict: a guide for responsible business conduct
This guide is meant to help tech companies think through the impacts of their decisions in the context of conflict.
To defend democracy, stand up for civil society
As governments, businesses, and civil society organizations gather for the 2nd U.S. Summit for Democracy, our message is clear: to defend democracy in the digital age, states must stand up for civil society, online and off.
Ethiopian authorities must stop blocking social media
Authorities in Ethiopia must immediately reinstate full access to social media platforms across the entire country, and put an end to censorship.
Internet throttling in Bangladesh: government, telcos must #KeepItOn
Access Now and the #KeepItOn coalition are demanding unfettered access to all people across Bangladesh at all times.