News
Social Movements and Their Technologies analyzes the rise of low-power radio stations and radical internet projects (“emancipatory communication practices”) as a political subject, focusing on the sociological and cultural processes at play.
The Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) has released a trailer for its upcoming documentary DesiSec: Cybersecurity and Civil Society in India. The film will be released in December 2013. The documentary will include a series of interviews and videos on information security that CIS has produced over the past year.
Citizen Lab Doctoral Fellow Jennie Phillips attended the “Regional Consultation on Freedom of Expression for Civil Liberties” conference on 21-23 November in Bangkok, Thailand. A total of 137 participants from 26 countries attended the conference, which aimed to spark an Asia-wide movement for the protection of online freedom of expression.
Citizen Lab Research Fellow Jason Q. Ng published a piece in The Atlantic on 27 November. Titled, “How Tech Companies Can Help Overcome Chinese Censorship”, the piece looks at companies facilitating censorship in China.
Citizen Lab Director Ron Deibert’s book, Black Code: Inside the Battle for Cyberspace, made the long list for the 2014 British Colombia National Non-Fiction award.
The Collaboration on International ICT Policy in East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) and Paradigm Initiative Nigeria (PIN) to co-host discussion on online safety matters in Africa, during November and December 2013.
Cyber Steward partner organization Bytes for All (B4A), based in Pakistan, joined with ARTICLE 19 to condemn a proposal developed by the government of Sindh Province for a three-month ban on instant messaging apps Skype, Viber, and WhatsApp. The provincial government maintained that this proposed ban is part of an effort to block access to networks used by criminals and terrorists for their activities. Legal experts in Pakistan argue that the ban is legally justifiable as the 1996 Telecommunications (Reorganisation) Act allows communication services to be suspended for security concerns. However, B4A and ARTICLE 19 have criticized the proposal as incompatible with international human rights standards.
In January 2013, Cyber Steward partner Bytes for All (B4A) submitted a petition to the Lahore High Court to challenge Internet censorship in the country. This case, in collaboration with the Media Legal Defense Initiative, a non-governmental organisation which helps journalists and independent media outlets around the world defend their rights, highlighted the ongoing censorship of YouTube in Pakistan. The popular video-sharing site has been blocked since 2012 since YouTube refused to remove the controversial anti-Islamic “Innocence of Muslims” video.
While the Mexican government has long been suspected of purchasing surveillance equipment, the frequency of these purchases and the level of public funds allocated to them are rapidly increasing. Last February, New York Times published an investigative report on a USD 355 million outlay by the Mexican Ministry of Defense for sophisticated surveillance equipment. Six months earlier, Carmen Artistegui, a renowned investigative journalist in Mexico, published a report documenting five contracts from the Secretariat of National Defense for the purchase of surveillance technologies. All five contracts were confidential and granted to a single company headquartered in the state of Jalisco called Security Tracking Devices, Inc.
Cyber Steward Network partner Renata Avila details her efforts to bring legal action against FinFisher in Mexico.