ARTICLE 19
ARTICLE 19 envisages a world where people are free to speak their opinions, participate in decision making, and make informed choices about their lives. ARTICLE 19 is campaigning with people around the world for the right to exercise these rights. It has offices in Bangladesh, Brazil, Kenya, Mexico, Tunisia, Senegal and the UK, and works in collaboration with 90 partners worldwide. In 2001, ARTICLE 19 supported APC for the development of the Civil Society and ICT Policy workshop in Africa.
In this open letter to the incoming president of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC), APC and other organisations take the opportunity to voice a series of recommendations to ensure effective civil society participation in the upcoming 16th cycle of the HRC.
In 2020, Facebook (now Meta) commissioned the law firm Foley Hoag to conduct a Human Rights Impact Assessment (HRIA) to evaluate its role in spreading hate speech and incitement to violence on its services in India. A year and a half later, the HRIA has not yet been released.
The undersigned organisations condemn the use of NSO Group’s Pegasus technology in El Salvador for the surveillance of journalists and civil society, as initially flagged by local independent media and confirmed through a joint investigation by global and regional civil society organisations.
A joint letter urges members of the UN Ad Hoc Committee drafting a potential Cybercrime Treaty to ensure that human rights protections are included at every step and global civil society is provided opportunities to participate in the development process.
Following revelations that Israeli NSO Group’s Pegasus Spyware was used to hack the devices of six Palestinian human rights activists, we urge the EU to take serious and effective measures against NSO Group, including its designation under the EU’s global human rights sanctions regime.
APC joins other organisations and individuals to express concern over Digital Platforms Regulation Bill Nº 14.561-19, which is being discussed in the Chilean congress. The bill establishes rules that end up being dangerous for the exercise of fundamental rights on the internet.
APC and other civil society organisations marked the conclusion of the UN General Assembly's 76th Third Committee session with these observations on both thematic and country-specific resolutions. We urge all states to implement the commitments made in these resolutions to their full extent.
APC and other civil society organisations call on UN Human Rights Council (HRC) member states to take urgent action at the ongoing 48th HRC session to denounce the unfolding and unprecedented scale of human rights violations by states facilitated by the use of the NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware.
Dozens of civil society organisations and independent experts joined forces to express their alarm at the media revelations that NSO Group’s spyware has been used to facilitate human rights violations around the world on a massive scale and to call on states to take immediate measures.
In recognition of the 250 organisations in the #KeepItOn Coalition against internet shutdowns, we urge all states to immediately and unconditionally cease shutting down, throttling, or blocking the internet.
Association for Progressive Communications (APC) 2022
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