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Natalia Krapiva, Esq.

Senior Tech-Legal Counsel

Natalia works to prevent and mitigate legal risks to the Digital Security Helpline and its beneficiaries. She also leads Access Now’s efforts to strategically engage courts and legal processes to uphold digital rights.

Natalia is licensed by the state bar of New York (USA).

Prior to Access Now, Natalia worked as a prosecutor at Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office. While in law school, Natalia worked at the UC Berkeley Human Rights Center’s Investigations Lab, where she learned to use digital evidence for human rights documentation and accountability. As a law student, Natalia interned at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Queens County District Attorney’s Office, and the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Prior to law school, Natalia was a Legislative Analyst at Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and a Legal Assistant at Mobilization for Justice. She also interned at the New York State Attorney General’s Office and the New York State Department of Labor. Natalia holds two AA degrees in Communication and Education from Middlesex College, a BA in Political Science from Columbia University, and a JD from the UC Berkeley School of Law.

Natalia is a member of the American Bar Association and the New York State Academy of Trial Lawyers. She also leads the Digital Rights Litigators Network.

Natalia speaks English and Russian.

Civil society reports internet shutdowns in two cities in Kazakhstan during February 28 protests

10 Mar 2021

Multiple sources are reporting an internet shutdown in Kazakhstan coinciding with anti-government protests calling for the release of political prisoners.

Press Release
Civil society reports internet shutdowns in two cities in Kazakhstan during February 28 protests
10 Mar 2021
Civil society reports internet shutdowns in two cities in Kazakhstan during February 28 protests

Human rights organizations respond to NSO: victims’ voices will not be silenced

7 Jan 2021

Access Now and seven other human rights organizations have filed a reply to NSO Group’s opposition to the coalition’s amicus brief in the case of WhatsApp v. NSO in the U.S. Federal 9th Circuit Court.

Press Release
Human rights organizations respond to NSO: victims’ voices will not be silenced
7 Jan 2021
Human rights organizations respond to NSO: victims’ voices will not be silenced
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Warning: repressive regimes are using DMCA takedown demands to censor activists

22 Oct 2020

Repressive regimes — from Nicaragua to Tanzania to Ecuador and beyond — are adding to their toolbox of strategies for censorship of critical voices and independent journalism online.

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Warning: repressive regimes are using DMCA takedown demands to censor activists
22 Oct 2020
Warning: repressive regimes are using DMCA takedown demands to censor activists
Kazakhstan internet

As conflict escalates, Azerbaijan’s internet shutdown puts lives further at risk

15 Oct 2020

The Azerbaijani government, along with internet and telecom service providers and other essential services, must immediately restore unrestricted access to the internet across all networks, including lifting any restrictions on the use of VPNs.

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As conflict escalates, Azerbaijan’s internet shutdown puts lives further at risk
15 Oct 2020
As conflict escalates, Azerbaijan’s internet shutdown puts lives further at risk
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Sandvine, Francisco Partners facing mounting pressure for accountability around censorship tools

23 Sep 2020

Access Now, CPJ, EFF, and digital security experts Ron Deibert and Christopher Parsons are calling on California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to look into the activities of Sandvine and its owners Francisco Partners for potential legal violations arising out of their contracts with Belarus.

Press Release
Sandvine, Francisco Partners facing mounting pressure for accountability around censorship tools
23 Sep 2020
Sandvine, Francisco Partners facing mounting pressure for accountability around censorship tools
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Censorship tech company Sandvine’s human rights “commitments” are too little too late

16 Sep 2020

Sandvine withdrawing its product support in Belarus after abuses have already occurred is a necessary but deeply insufficient gesture from a company whose investors have a long track record of failing to protect human rights.

Press Release
Censorship tech company Sandvine’s human rights “commitments” are too little too late
16 Sep 2020
Censorship tech company Sandvine’s human rights “commitments” are too little too late
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Francisco Partners-owned Sandvine profits from shutdowns and oppression in Belarus

3 Sep 2020

Sandvine, a Canadian company owned by U.S. private equity firm Francisco Partners, supplied DPI technology that was likely used to implement internet shutdowns in Belarus.

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Francisco Partners-owned Sandvine profits from shutdowns and oppression in Belarus
3 Sep 2020
Francisco Partners-owned Sandvine profits from shutdowns and oppression in Belarus

ECOWAS Togo court decision: Internet access is a right that requires protection of the law

14 Jul 2020

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Community Court has issued a pivotal decision for the right of freedom of expression in Togo and other West African States.

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ECOWAS Togo court decision: Internet access is a right that requires protection of the law
14 Jul 2020
ECOWAS Togo court decision: Internet access is a right that requires protection of the law
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ECOWAS Court upholds digital rights, rules 2017 internet shutdowns in Togo illegal

25 Jun 2020

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Community Court of Justice ruled that the September 2017 internet shutdown ordered by the Togolese government during protests is illegal and an affront to the applicants’ right to freedom of expression.

Press Release
ECOWAS Court upholds digital rights, rules 2017 internet shutdowns in Togo illegal
25 Jun 2020
ECOWAS Court upholds digital rights, rules 2017 internet shutdowns in Togo illegal

Court rules the internet shutdowns in Papua and West Papua were illegal

3 Jun 2020

A coalition of civil society groups working on freedom of expression issues in Southeast Asia has successfully sued the government for purposely shutting down the internet in Papua and West Papua during protests in 2019.

Press Release
Court rules the internet shutdowns in Papua and West Papua were illegal
3 Jun 2020
Court rules the internet shutdowns in Papua and West Papua were illegal