Tag: human rights

Vietnam has blocked Facebook during U.S. President Obama’s visit to the country and cracked down on human rights activists.

We asked attendees at RightsCon to share their thoughts on the experience, and to articulate what they see as the next steps in the fight for human rights worldwide. Here’s what they had to say.

The U.S. Department of Justice is asking Apple to re-engineer the iPhone operating system so it is more vulnerable to a brute-force attack, citing the need to fight terrorism. This dangerous request runs contrary to international human rights law and provides political cover for oppressive regimes to seek the same authority.

A look at the digital rights landscape in Mauritania and Rwanda, and the implications for people at risk of human rights violations in these countries.

In a new op-ed published at Slate, David Kaye, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the freedom of expression, and Brett Solomon, our executive director, argue that in global policy, connecting the developing world to the internet isn’t enough. Respect for human rights must go “hand in glove” with the drive to connection.

Today Access and the Electronic Frontier Foundation launched a campaign to demand security and privacy in our electronic communications.

The U.S. government does not protect the privacy rights of non-citizens beyond its borders. That’s the message it will deliver at the U.N. Human Rights Council tomorrow in its official response to the 348 recommendations received during the second Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the U.S. human rights record in Geneva.

A United Nations board of security experts representing 20 governments has released a report critical to the future of the internet. This iterative report aims to identify areas of consensus and prevent conflict between nation states. The report fails to mention encryption, and includes underwhelming statements about rights online. However, it does help to establish boundaries for proper state behavior that are critical to maintaining a secure and free internet.

This week, Access joined a coalition letter to the Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom sharply criticizing the government for spying on international human rights groups. The letter responded to revelations in a ruling by the Investigatory Powers Tribunal, which disclosed that Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) had spied on organizations in South Africa and Egypt. The UK is a member of the so-called Five Eyes coalition of governments — including the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand — that collaborates on intelligence gathering.