Lebanon
Our Voices, Our Futures is a global South-led consortium, comprising CREA, APC, UHAI -The East African Sexual Health and Rights Initiative and WO=MEN, complemented by strategic partner IM-Defensoras. This initiative will amplify voices and increase visibility of structurally silenced women in Bangladesh, India, Kenya, Lebanon, Sudan and Uganda, so they can take their rightful places in civic space and participate across three key spaces: online space, physical public ...
In Lebanon, the legal framework for privacy and data protection is in limbo, cybersecurity is minimal to non-existent, and citizens’ rights are neglected. SMEX has been following these issues closely, and now, it is expanding its work to serve as a watchdog over citizens’ digital data.
Our member SMEX is hosting its annual Bread&Net event on 1-4 December to address digital rights in the new reality: one that has impacted the digital economy, shifted the conversation around surveillance, and presented new opportunities for governments to censor online speech.
With the onset of the economic crisis and the pandemic, education in Lebanon changed dramatically with the distinctive rise of e-learning, whereby teaching is taking place remotely on digital platforms. This abrupt shift to the digital realm has significant academic and social implications.
On 30 August, Lebanese internet users reported an internet disruption that made it almost impossible to access platforms like Twitter. This outage affected many websites and services globally, but not all internet service providers nor all internet services in Lebanon were affected the same.
Temporary internet disruptions and shutdowns pose serious challenges to the exercise of a wide range of rights and cannot be justified under any pretext. We therefore call on the Lebanese authorities to lift all restrictions on internet access and restore telecommunications to full capacity.
The Lebanese government announced on 12 March that Ogero, the national internet service provider (ISP), will double the speed and capacity for users until the end of April, but it did not clarify whether the decision includes other privately owned ISPs.
Bread&Net is a three-day, participant-built “unconference” organised by SMEX, where activists, technologists, lawyers, artists, trainers, journalists, researchers, entrepreneurs and others from across the MENA region will come together in Beirut, Lebanon from 15 to 17 November.
APC member in Lebanon Social Media Exchange (SMEX) published this piece on digital rights issues in the Middle East and North Africa.
APC’s subgranting programme, now in its third year, has so far awarded a total of USD 291,534 to support its members in achieving APC’s vision. Sixteen member organisations have been recipients of 17 grants. The call for campaign and research grants is still open.
Association for Progressive Communications (APC) 2022
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