Politicians and law enforcement in the U.S., E.U, and elsewhere are calling for more authority to monitor user-generated social media content, a practice that is inherently intrusive and ripe for abuse. We provide recommendations for limiting such programs.…
13 January 2016
Yesterday, authorities in Dhaka, Bangladesh shut down some internet services for several hours, including blocking access to Facebook, Whatsapp, and Viber. Service was later restored, but key services remain offline. The latest shutdown in Dhaka shows worrying backsliding to the use of internet shutdowns as a blunt instrument to deal with threats to national security. It also solidifies the South Asia region as a hub for these intentional disruptions, given that Pakistan and the Indian provinces of Gujarat and Kashmir have also chosen to disrupt networks in the past few months. Worse, it looks as though lawmakers around the world are seeing threats to national security as a justification for undermining the open internet. …
19 November 2015
Today countries around the world urged the small island state of Nauru to restore access to social media and support free expression. Delivered in a session at the United Nations Human Rights Council, the recommendations — presented by official delegations from the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and Timor Leste, among others — represent a sharp rebuke after Nauru clamped down on free expression over the past year, including blocking Facebook. In a separate action, Access Now delivered a petition to the government of Nauru signed by more than 5,000 people calling on the government to restore full access to the internet.…
3 November 2015
For years, people have been harassed on Facebook by adversaries who flag them as having “fake” identities, even when they’re using their real names. Others using pseudonyms have had their accounts suspended, and have been required to submit documentation to…
5 October 2015
Today, Access submitted a letter to UN and African Union experts requesting their urgent intervention on the internet shutdown in Burundi, where social media services have been cut off in the face of public unrest. The letter underscores the importance of the internet to realizing human rights, and explains how shutdowns often enable egregious human rights violations. …
29 April 2015
Activists involved in the organization of the first Gezi park protests in Turkey are currently standing trial, which Amnesty International describes as “a vindictive, politically motivated show trial without a shred of evidence of actual crimes.”…
13 June 2014
The Russian government has blocked access to a blog-hosting site that publishes reports from at least two prominent independent journalists often critical of the Kremlin. The site has been added to the country’s recently established official “internet blacklist.”…
8 February 2013