Communication rights activists are calling for greater accountability from Big Tech and social media platforms. They also want a seat at the table when it comes to devising ways of regulating and monitoring social media content and use of personal data. Alternatively, Web3 may be what...
Social movements need to embrace participatory media practices to organize in their struggles against an extractivist economic model A hugely significant bill has been making its way through the Brazilian congress. According to Amazon Watch, Bill 191/2020 is a piece of legislation that “in addition to...
A recently released UNESCO report confirms comprehensively what many of us have sensed: the rise of social media and digital communication platforms have created an existential challenge to independent media and journalism. “Journalism is a public good: World trends in freedom of expression and media development:...
The 50th anniversary celebrations of NGO CSW/NY, which organizes the civil society side of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) commence this month. The civil society forum is the central stage for global advocacy to promote women’s empowerment, human rights and gender...
In 1985, following the hijacking of a Trans World Airlines flight by a Shi’ite Muslim group, UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher accused the news media of providing the terrorists with the “oxygen of publicity”. Thatcher misconstrued the role of public interest media, but the underlying question...
Civil Society in the South needs to be empowered to prevent a new “Scramble for Africa” as tech giants seek to access and monetize data in countries with weak data protection regimes The expression “data is the new oil” has become commonplace over the past ten...
In a recent training session for current and would be journalists, a repeated question came up – can a journalist be an activist? Or – asked with even more urgency in the context of injustice – how can a journalist not be an activist?There is...
Russia’s supreme court has ordered the closure of Memorial International, the country’s oldest human rights group. Memorial has joined a growing list of investigative news outlets, journalists, and rights organisations classed as being an agent of foreign powers. Many believe the move is politically motivated. A term...
Optimism brought about by drafting of new constitution dampened by polarizing presidential election Chile, a country known for being among the most prosperous and politically stable countries in Latin America over the past 30 years, is at a crossroads. And like most crossroads, there are challenges,...
In its 2021 report on the Global State of Democracy, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) stated that “the number of countries moving in an authoritarian direction exceeds the number of countries moving in a democratic direction” – for the fifth year...