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Controlling China’s Digital Ecosystem: Observations on Chinese Social Media
China Leadership Monitor, issue 72 (2022), 10 pp.
"Nowhere is the effort to control the flow of digital information more extensive and sustained than it is in China. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) uses a wide range of tools and strategies to achieve two related, but distinct, goals of digital information control: to shape public knowledge and to
...
Is Telegram a “harbinger of Freedom”? The Performance, Practices, and Perception of Platforms as Political Actors in Authoritarian States
Post-Soviet Affairs, volume 38, issue 1-2 (2022), pp. 125-145
"This paper examines the practices, performance, and perceptions of the messaging platform Telegram as an actor in the 2020 Belarus protests, using publicly available data from Telegram’s public statements, protest-related Telegram groups, and media coverage. Developing a novel conceptualization o
...
Iranians on #SocialMedia
Washington, DC: Atlantic Council (2022), 40 pp.
"This report explores the social media habits of Iranian netizens and how the Islamic Republic is repressing the online space." (Publisher description)
Iron Net: Digital Repression in the Middle East and North Africa
London: European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) (2022), 25 pp.
"Saudi Arabia and the UAE are the leading exponents of digital authoritarianism in the Middle East. The two states have intensified their collaboration with China and Israel to gain greater access to advanced technologies. The EU has responded to concerns about the risks of new technologies with a r
...
"South Asia witnessed major political and economic upheaval this past year, even as the region was slowly emerging from the grip of the Covid-19 pandemic. While 23 journalists lost their lives and others were subjected to more than 60 attacks by the police, armed militia, vigilante mobs, politicians
...
The Unfreedom Monitor: India Country Report
Amsterdam: Global Voices Advox (2022), 28 pp.
"India’s “techade” does show signs of digital authoritarianism that can potentially have farreaching implications for politics, civil liberties and society. At the same time, these are not new challenges for the country. In the past, the Indian government has attempted to surveil, monitor, and
...
The Return of Digital Authoritarianism: Internet Shutdowns in 2021
Deep Insights
Access Now; KeepItOn (2022), 32 pp.
"With a gradual return to normalcy following the outbreak of the global COVID-19 pandemic, we saw a dramatic resurgence of internet shutdowns in 2021. During this year, Access Now and the #KeepItOn coalition documented at least 182 internet shutdown incidents around the world in 34 countries, as com
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Russian Social Network VK Gains Carte Blanche Following the Closure of Instagram and Facebook in the Country
Russia Analytical Digest, issue 280 (2022), pp. 20-21
"As the Russian invasion of Ukraine erupted, the country’s authorities declared a war on Western social media as well. In March, such social media giants as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram were blocked in Russia, giving their local competitor—named VK—a virtual monopoly in the country. Millio
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Regulating Harmful Content in Indonesia: Legal Frameworks, Trends, and Concerns
Yogyakarta: Center for Digital Society (2022), xi, 120 pp.
"Publication and dissemination of harmful content are constituted as criminal offenses according to Indonesian regulation. Consequently, all harmful content could be criminally prosecuted [...] Several terms used in the regulations are too broad (e.g., morality, public order, etc.) and may cause mul
...
The Unfreedom Monitor: Brazil Country Report
Amsterdam: Global Voices Advox (2022), 19 pp.
"Under the presidency of Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil, Latin America's largest democracy, has seen unprecedented increases in threats to citizens’ fundamental rights. Digital rights have not been an exception. Technoauthoritarianism in Brazil must be viewed as a multifaceted development and one that is
...
The Digital Silk Road: China's Quest to Wire the World and Win the Future
New York, NY: Harper Business (2021), xiv, 351 pp.
"China is wiring the world, and, in doing so, rewriting the global order. As things stand, the rest of the world still has a choice. But the battle for tomorrow will require America and its allies to take daring risks in uncertain political terrain. Unchecked, China will reshape global flows of data
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Freedom on the Net 2021: The Global Drive to Control Big Tech
Deep Insights
Washington, DC: Freedom House (2021), 41 pp.
"1. Global internet freedom declined for the 11th consecutive year. The greatest deteriorations were documented in Myanmar, Belarus, and Uganda, where state forces cracked down amid electoral and constitutional crises. Myanmar’s 14-point score decline is the largest registered since the Freedom on
...
Spyware: An Unregulated and Escalating Threat to Independent Media
Washington, DC: Center for International Media Assistance (CIMA) (2021), 20 pp.
"Spyware is increasingly used by governments around the world to silence independent media. The use of spyware poses safety risks to journalists and their sources, encourages self-censorship, and creates new financial and operational strains for news outlets. Media advocates, news outlets, and polic
...
Myanmar: Dismantling Dissent. Crackdowns on Internet Freedoms
Bangkog: Asia Centre (2021), 27 pp.
The Attacks on Palestinian Digital Rights: Progress Report, May 6-19, 2021
7amleh – Arab Center for Social Media Advancement (2021), 15 pp.
"Over the past two weeks, 7amleh - The Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media has worked to document and respond to the digital rights violations occurring during the 2021 Israeli attacks on Gaza, Palestinians in mixed cities in Israel and forcible displacement of Palestinians in East Jerus
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State of the Digital Nation: The Digital Rights Report 2020
Foundation for Media Alternatives (2021), 121 pp.
"We structured the report by beginning with an overview of the digital environment in the Philippines in 2020 before delving into the impact of technology on human rights: the key events, challenges and accomplishments, then a forecast of 2021 and 2022. These are divided into the following key thema
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Myanmar’s Military Struggles to Control the Virtual Battlefield
Brussels: International Crisis Group (2021), 37 pp.
"Since the 1 February coup d’état in Myanmar, the online space has become a parallel battlefield on which the country’s military and its opponents try to rally supporters, share information and control the narrative around events unfolding in the country. This virtual struggle has been vitally
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Online Intimidation: Controlling the Narrative in the Balkans. Annual Digital Rights Report 2021
Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) (2021), 64 pp.
"From August 2020 until August this summer, we recorded almost 800 cases of digital rights violations in eight countries of south-eastern Europe: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Hungary, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania and Serbia. Violations took place not just on TikTok, but also on F
...
