Tag: Business & Human Rights

RightsCon is unique because we actively invite numerous stakeholders to the table, and this includes representatives from internet pioneers such as Google, Facebook, Yahoo!, LinkedIn, Twitter, Microsoft, and also telcos from around the world including Telenor and Smart. Why do we invite companies to join us? Because businesses impact human rights.

Last month, Twitter released its most recent transparency report, and it provides important insights into the evolving issue of freedom of expression online. The report confirms that Turkey has become a hotbed of censorship since Tayyip Erdogan was sworn in as President in August 2014 and launched a crackdown on the media.

The release of a new white paper on the export of surveillance technologies is a welcome and highly relevant contribution to what remains a niche yet hugely important issue, says Edin Omanovic of Privacy International.

Today, Access released a white paper that analyzes the role of government export controls in limiting the spread of sophisticated surveillance technologies. Entitled “Considerations on Wassenaar Arrangement Proposals for Surveillance Technologies,” the white paper focuses on the export of these technologies to countries known for violating human rights.

A year and a half after the Snowden revelations, more technology companies and telcos are publishing transparency reports on government requests for user information and content removals. Several companies published transparency reports for the first time in early 2015, including Daum Kakao, Reddit, Medium, and Cheezburger. These are innovative companies — and they came up with novel approaches to presenting their data and policies.

Two weeks from now, Access will head to Manila to host RightsCon — our signature conference featuring digital rights activists, companies, government officials, technologists, and academics — together with our partners Engage Media and the Foundation for Media Alternatives. We’ll be tackling the most pressing issues affecting digital rights and the open internet.

Hundreds of technologists, companies, governments, and human rights advocates to convene in Manila to discuss privacy, security, corporate responsibility.

This week the U.S. government issued a General License to provide users with easier access to the internet and a wide range of software, hardware, and services “incident to personal communications” in Sudan. Access applauds the move, which follows years of advocacy by our organization alongside civil society partners in the U.S. and Sudan.

Access has submitted evidence to the International Criminal Court about the SMS shutdown in the Central African Republic during June and July 2014. The submission supports the latest ICC investigation into crimes against humanity in CAR, the Court’s second probe into the “endless” list of atrocities perpetrated there.