Access Now

Last updated
Access Now
Formation2009
FoundersBrett Solomon, Cameran Ashraf, Sina Rabbani and Kim Pham
Website accessnow.org
RightsCon 2019 conference venue in Tunis. Rights Con 2019 - Entrance.jpg
RightsCon 2019 conference venue in Tunis.
A room hosting a RightsCon session organized by Access Now in 2019. Oya 2 - Session - Rightscon 2019.jpg
A room hosting a RightsCon session organized by Access Now in 2019.

Access Now is a non-profit organization headquartered in Brooklyn, New York City, in the United States. [1] [2] It was founded in California in July 2009 and focuses on digital civil rights. [3] The organization issues reports on global Internet censorship, and hosts the annual RightsCon human rights conference. It is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. [4] Its headquarters moved to New York at the beginning of 2022. [1]

Contents

History

Access Now was established by Brett Solomon, Cameran Ashraf, Sina Rabbani and Kim Pham in 2009, after the contested Iranian presidential election of that year. [5] [6] During the protests that followed this election, Access Now disseminated the video footage which came out of Iran. [6] Access Now has campaigned against internet shutdowns, [7] online censorship, [8] international trade agreements, [9] and government surveillance. [10] Access Now has supported the use of encryption [11] and limited cyber security laws and regulations. [12]

Operations

As of 2020, Access Now is a 501(c)(3) organization based in New York City in the United States, [13] with staff, operations, and activities distributed in other places the world.

RightsCon

Access Now runs an annual conference, RightsCon, which focuses on issues concerning technology's impact on human rights. [14] [15] The conference was first held in Silicon Valley in 2011, followed by events in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2012), Silicon Valley (2014), Manila, Philippines (2015), and Silicon Valley (2016); [16] thus alternated between Silicon Valley and a city in the Global South. [16] After being held in Brussels and Toronto, [17] RightsCon 2019 took place in Tunis, Tunisia (11–14 June). [18] The 2019 RightsCon event gathered activists and stakeholders from all over the globe discussed the intersection between human rights and digitalization by government representatives, tech giants, policymakers, NGOs and independent activists. [19] The discussions were about hate speech and freedom of expression, artificial intelligence, privacy and data security, open government and democracy, access, and many others. [19]

In 2020, RightsCon was to be held in San José, Costa Rica, for the COVID-19 pandemic, so the meeting took place in the online format. [20] In 2021, the 10th edition of RightsCon was again held online from Monday, June 7 to Friday, June 11, 2021 due to the continued global COVID-19 pandemic which altered several digital rights physical meetings. [21] [22] The topics for RightsCon2021 included: Artificial Intelligence (AI), automation, data protection and user control, digital futures, democracy, elections, new business models, content control, peacebuilding, censorship, internet shutdowns, freedom of the media and many others were discussed by several digital rights organizations and individuals. [21]

In 2022, the 11th edition of RightsCon was planned to take place entirely online across all time zones from Monday, June 6 to Friday, June 10, 2022. [23] [24]

#KeepItOn project

Through its #KeepItOn project, Access Now makes an annual report and data set on internet shutdowns to track internet shutdowns, social media blockages, and internet slowdowns in countries around the world. [25] This report and data are published every spring. [26] [27] Access Now fights against online repression, and provides grants and support to grassroots organizations to advance the rights of users and communities at risk of digital violations. [28]

Methodology

Access Now gathers data by the Shutdown Tracker Optimization Project (STOP). [26] This project uses remotely sensed data to initially identify shutdowns, blockages and throttling. Instances are confirmed using news reports, reports from local activists, official government statements, and statements from ISPs. [29] Access Now defines Internet shutdowns as "an intentional disruption of the internet or electronic communications rendering them inaccessible or effectively unusable, for a specific population or within a location, often to exert control over the flow of information.". [26] Individual instances are counted if the shutdown lasts longer than one hour. [26]

Access Now's data capture fewer false positives but more false negatives compared to expert analysis of internet shutdowns, such as V-Dem Institute's Digital Society Project, or Freedom House's Freedom on the Net. [30] Access Now's data are more likely to miss shutdowns than captured by other methods. [29]

Impact

#KeepItOn data is used to measure shutdowns by a range of organizations and academic publications. [29] The Millennium Challenge Corporation uses these data as a part of its Freedom of Information indicator on its annual scorecards, used for determining aid allocations. [31] Access Now's reports are also used in calculating the total cost of internet shutdowns. [32] [33] Other articles use these data to track trends in internet censorship in various countries and regions. [34] [35] [36]

Digital Security Helpline

The organization offers a 24/7 Helpline to advise victims of cyber-crime such as cyber-attacks, spyware campaigns, data theft, and other digital malfeasance, to protect citizens from digital attacks. [37] [38] Starting in 2009, it has offered support and direct technical advice to activists, journalists, and other human rights campaigners [37] who are in need of digital security support, those facing cyber threats and attacks and those in need urgent support. [28] The Digital Security Helpline was officially launched in 2013. [37] Services include digital security guidance on topics such as how to protect against data and credential theft, and preventing targeted cyberattacks. [37] [38]

The Helpline has been credited with helping to build people-first digital infrastructures, and one content moderation request at a time. [39] Supporters claim that the helpline provides lessons on how to build comprehensive and sustainable digital infrastructures while protecting the digital rights of the people they serve, including CSOs, activists, and human rights defenders. [39]

Access Now's methods of using in-country volunteers to identify attacks from their own governments have been criticized as unethical due to the risk of government retribution for those reporting via the helpline and other methods. [40] [41] [42] [43]

Related Research Articles

Telecommunications in the Democratic Republic of the Congo include radio, television, fixed and mobile telephones, and the Internet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freedom of information</span> Freedom of a person or people to publish and consume information

Freedom of information is freedom of a person or people to publish and have access to information. Access to information is the ability for an individual to seek, receive and impart information effectively. As articulated by UNESCO, it encompasses

"scientific, indigenous, and traditional knowledge; freedom of information, building of open knowledge resources, including open Internet and open standards, and open access and availability of data; preservation of digital heritage; respect for cultural and linguistic diversity, such as fostering access to local content in accessible languages; quality education for all, including lifelong and e-learning; diffusion of new media and information literacy and skills, and social inclusion online, including addressing inequalities based on skills, education, gender, age, race, ethnicity, and accessibility by those with disabilities; and the development of connectivity and affordable ICTs, including mobile, the Internet, and broadband infrastructures".

Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) is a Washington, D.C.-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organisation that advocates for digital rights and freedom of expression. CDT seeks to promote legislation that enables individuals to use the internet for purposes of well-intent, while at the same time reducing its potential for harm. It advocates for transparency, accountability, and limiting the collection of personal information.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Digital rights</span> Type of human and legal rights

Digital rights are those human rights and legal rights that allow individuals to access, use, create, and publish digital media or to access and use computers, other electronic devices, and telecommunications networks. The concept is particularly related to the protection and realization of existing rights, such as the right to privacy and freedom of expression, in the context of digital technologies, especially the Internet. The laws of several countries recognize a right to Internet access.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Internet censorship</span> Legal control of the internet

Internet censorship is the legal control or suppression of what can be accessed, published, or viewed on the Internet. Censorship is most often applied to specific internet domains but exceptionally may extend to all Internet resources located outside the jurisdiction of the censoring state. Internet censorship may also put restrictions on what information can be made internet accessible. Organizations providing internet access – such as schools and libraries – may choose to preclude access to material that they consider undesirable, offensive, age-inappropriate or even illegal, and regard this as ethical behavior rather than censorship. Individuals and organizations may engage in self-censorship of material they publish, for moral, religious, or business reasons, to conform to societal norms, political views, due to intimidation, or out of fear of legal or other consequences.

The Internet is accessible to the majority of the population in Egypt, whether via smartphones, internet cafes, or home connections. Broadband Internet access via VDSL is widely available.

Internet censorship in Vietnam is implemented in the country, according to a 2009 report from Reporters Without Borders. Vietnam regulates its citizens' Internet access using both legal and technical means. The government's efforts to regulate, monitor, and provide oversight regarding Internet use has been referred to as a "Bamboo Firewall".

The Internet in Kazakhstan is growing rapidly. Between 2001 and 2005, the number of Internet users increased from 200,000 to 1 million. By 2007, Kazakhstan reported Internet penetration levels of 8.5 percent, rising to 12.4 percent in 2008 and 34.3% in 2010. By 2013, Kazakhstani officials reported Internet penetration levels of 62.2 percent, with about 10 million users. There are five first-tier ISPs with international Internet connections and approximately 100 second-tier ISPs that are purchasing Internet traffic from the first-tier ISPs. As of 2019, more than 75% of Kazakhstan's population have access to the internet, a figure well ahead of any other country in Central Asia. The Internet consumption in the country rose from 356 PB in 2018 to 1,000 PB in 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Internet outage</span> Loss of internet functionality over a small or large area

An Internet outage or Internet blackout or Internet shutdown is the complete or partial failure of the internet services. It can occur due to censorship, cyberattacks, disasters, police or security services actions or errors.

This list of Internet censorship and surveillance by country provides information on the types and levels of Internet censorship and surveillance that is occurring in countries around the world.

Global Internet usage is the number of people who use the Internet worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Internet censorship in Russia</span>

In Russia, internet censorship is enforced on the basis of several laws and through several mechanisms. Since 2012, Russia maintains a centralized internet blacklist maintained by the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Kaye (academic)</span> Law professor

David Kaye is an American politician who served as the United Nations special rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression between August 2014 and July 2020. He was succeeded by Irene Khan. Kaye is clinical professor of law at the University of California, Irvine on public international law, international humanitarian law human rights and international criminal justice. He is co-director of the UCI Fair Elections and Free Speech Center working at the intersection of technology, freedom of speech and democratic deliberation. He is also the independent board chair of the Global Network Initiative.

Human rights in cyberspace is a relatively new and uncharted area of law. The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has stated that the freedoms of expression and information under Article 19(2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) include the freedom to receive and communicate information, ideas and opinions through the Internet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cyberspace Administration of China</span> Central Internet regulator in China

The Cyberspace Administration of China is the national internet regulator and censor of the People's Republic of China.

IT-backed authoritarianism, also known as techno-authoritarianism, digital authoritarianism or digital dictatorship, refers to the state use of information technology in order to control or manipulate both foreign and domestic populations. Tactics of digital authoritarianism may include mass surveillance including through biometrics such as facial recognition, internet firewalls and censorship, internet blackouts, disinformation campaigns, and digital social credit systems. Although some institutions assert that this term should only be used to refer to authoritarian governments, others argue that the tools of digital authoritarianism are being adopted and implemented by governments with "authoritarian tendencies", including democracies.

Turkey Blocks is an independent digital research organization that monitors internet access restrictions and their relation to political incidents in Turkey. Using its network of monitoring probes, the project has uncovered and documented systematic mass-censorship of communications infrastructure, primarily social media services, during national emergencies and incidents of political significance relating to human rights, freedom of expression and public policy in the region.

Toosheh is a satellite filecasting technology deployed in Iran and the Middle East that uses common satellite equipment to deliver digital content without relying on access to the Internet. Developed in response to Internet censorship in Iran, it was created by NetFreedom Pioneers, a California-based nonprofit organization, and launched by Executive Director Mehdi Yahyanejad in 2015.

Freedom on the Net is an annual report providing analytical reports and numerical ratings regarding the state of Internet freedom for countries worldwide, published by the American non-profit research and advocacy group Freedom House. The countries surveyed represent a sample with a broad range of geographical diversity and levels of economic development, as well as varying levels of political and media freedom.

Digital rights—human rights in relation to digital technologies—present particular challenges in the Caribbean countries, due to its geographies, political context, social inequalities and cultural diversity. While they face the same problem of digital divides as other regions, for islands the impacts of not accessing or understanding digital technologies can have particularly harmful consequences. Similar concerns could be found in terms of gender-based violence online, a global problem encompassing psychological, physical, emotional and sexual violence. This affects more acutely girls and young women and brings about special concerns within the Caribbean. However, there are other topics which are utmost problematic because of the history and type of applicable law system in countries from this region, such as in the case of digital identity and internet shutdowns. Despite variations across Caribbean countries, issues happening in one country can be replicated within the region or can affect people living in other countries.

References

  1. 1 2 "Access Now Combined Financial Statements for the Years Ended December 31, 2022 and 2021" (PDF). Access Now is a nonprofit corporation incorporated in the State of California in July 2009.
  2. ↑ https://www.accessnow.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/990-2022-for-upload.pdf
  3. ↑ "Access Now | Digital Watch". dig.watch. Archived from the original on 2021-05-17. Retrieved 2021-05-17.
  4. ↑ https://act.accessnow.org/page/13742/donate/1
  5. ↑ Sterling, Bruce. "The latest EDRi-gram" . Wired . ISSN   1059-1028 . Retrieved 2024-08-02.
  6. 1 2 "#iranelection: The digital media response to the 2009 Iranian election". Archived from the original on 2016-08-28. Retrieved 2013-05-18.
  7. ↑ Farrell, Paul (27 May 2015). "Human rights groups condemn Nauru's criminalisation of political protest". the Guardian. Archived from the original on 2015-09-10. Retrieved 2015-09-21.
  8. ↑ "Blog | Access". www.accessnow.org. 28 August 2015. Archived from the original on 2015-10-02. Retrieved 2015-09-21.
  9. ↑ "Blog | Access". www.accessnow.org. 28 June 2015. Archived from the original on 2015-09-10. Retrieved 2015-09-21.
  10. ↑ Solomon, Brett (2016-05-11). "This Arcane Rule Change Would Give U.S. Law Enforcement New Power to Hack People Worldwide". Slate. ISSN   1091-2339. Archived from the original on 2016-11-05. Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  11. ↑ "Encrypt All The Things". encryptallthethings.net. Archived from the original on 2015-09-27. Retrieved 2015-09-21.
  12. ↑ "What Congress Can Do About Cybersecurity If CISA Fails". Archived from the original on 2015-10-20. Retrieved 2015-09-21.
  13. ↑ Access Now is a 501(c)(3) organization in the US, as documented in its 2019 Archived 2022-05-07 at the Wayback Machine IRS form 990.
  14. ↑ Burgess, Matt. "The Bizarre Reality of Getting Online in North Korea" . Wired. ISSN   1059-1028 . Retrieved 2024-08-02.
  15. ↑ "Access Now". Access Now. Archived from the original on 2011-07-18. Retrieved 2021-05-22.
  16. 1 2 "RightsCon Summit Series". rightscon.org. Archived from the original on 2015-09-12. Retrieved 2015-09-21.
  17. ↑ Welch, Chris (2018-03-23). "Sonos is pulling its ads off Facebook and Instagram, but only for a week". The Verge. Archived from the original on 2021-06-04. Retrieved 2021-06-04.
  18. ↑ Wekwete, Ory Okolloh, Sharon (12 June 2019). "As the continent digitizes rapidly, Africans need a bill of data rights to protect them online". Quartz. Archived from the original on 2021-06-04. Retrieved 2021-06-04.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  19. 1 2 "Human Rights Work in Africa: From Digitization in Uganda to #RightsCon 2019 in Tunisia - betterplace-lab". en. Archived from the original on 2021-06-04. Retrieved 2021-06-04.
  20. ↑ "Home - RightsCon Summit Series". RightsCon Summit Series. Archived from the original on 2019-06-16. Retrieved 2019-06-16.
  21. 1 2 "RightsCon 2021 | Digital Watch". dig.watch. Archived from the original on 2021-06-04. Retrieved 2021-06-04.
  22. ↑ "RIGHTSCON – WORLD'S LEADING SUMMIT ON HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE DIGITAL AGE". [BETA] Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD). Archived from the original on 2021-06-04. Retrieved 2021-06-04.
  23. ↑ "RightsCon - Experience". RightsCon Summit Series. Archived from the original on 2017-01-25. Retrieved 2022-04-03.
  24. ↑ "Nica.team - Registration for the 11th edition of RightsCon is now open". University Ranking. Archived from the original on 2022-02-17. Retrieved 2022-04-03.
  25. ↑ Taye, Berhan (2021). "SHATTERED DREAMS AND LOST OPPORTUNITIES A year in the fight to #KeepItOn" (PDF). Access Now. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-06-02. Retrieved 2021-05-26.
  26. 1 2 3 4 Anthonio, Felicia; Cheng, Sage (2021). "Shutdown Tracker Optimization Project (STOP) Methodology" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2023-01-17. Retrieved 2021-05-26.
  27. ↑ "Mapping internet shutdowns around the world". www.aljazeera.com. Archived from the original on 2021-06-04. Retrieved 2021-06-04.
  28. 1 2 Dazed (2021-10-22). "Access Now: how to defend human rights in the digital age". Dazed. Archived from the original on 2021-11-28. Retrieved 2022-04-03.
  29. 1 2 3 Fletcher, Terry; Hayes-Birchler, Andria (2020). "Comparing Measures of Internet Censorship: Analyzing the Tradeoffs between Expert Analysis and Remote Measurement". Presented at the Data for Policy Conference 2020. doi:10.5281/zenodo.3967398. S2CID   244992072 – via Zenodo.
  30. ↑ Fletcher, Terry; Hayes-Birchler, Andria (2020). "Comparing Measures of Internet Censorship: Analyzing the Tradeoffs between Expert Analysis and Remote Measurement". Presented at the Data for Policy Conference 2020. doi:10.5281/zenodo.3967398. S2CID   244992072 – via Zenodo.
  31. ↑ "Guide to the MCC Indicators for Fiscal Year 2021". Millennium Challenge Corporation. Archived from the original on 2021-05-26. Retrieved 2021-05-26.
  32. ↑ Kathuria, Rajat; Kedia, Mansi; Varma, Gangesh; Bagchi, Kaushambi; Sekhani, Richa (2018-04-30). "The Anatomy of an Internet Blackout: Measuring the Economic Impact of Internet Shutdowns in India". Think Asia. Archived from the original on 2021-05-26. Retrieved 2021-05-26.
  33. ↑ West, Darrell (2016). "Internet shutdowns cost countries $2.4 billion last year" (PDF). Brookings Center for Technology Innovation. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-05-26. Retrieved 2021-05-26.
  34. ↑ Wagner, Benjamin (2018). "Understanding Internet Shutdowns: A Case Study from Pakistan". International Journal of Communication. 12 (1): 3917–3938. ISSN   1932-8036. Archived from the original on 2021-05-26. Retrieved 2021-05-26.
  35. ↑ Freyburg, Tina; Garbe, Lisa (2018). "Blocking the Bottleneck: Internet Shutdowns and Ownership at Election Times in Sub-Saharan Africa". International Journal of Communication (in German). 12: 3896–3916. ISSN   1932-8036. Archived from the original on 2021-06-01. Retrieved 2021-05-26.
  36. ↑ C, Siddhant (2019-11-07). "Exploring Possible Solutions to Curb Internet Shutdowns in India". SSRN. Rochester, NY. doi:10.2139/ssrn.3644879. SSRN   3644879.
  37. 1 2 3 4 "The cybersecurity helpline protecting citizens from digital attacks". The Daily Swig | Cybersecurity news and views. 2019-04-18. Archived from the original on 2021-06-04. Retrieved 2021-06-04.
  38. 1 2 "Digital Security Helpline". Access Now. Archived from the original on 2021-06-07. Retrieved 2021-06-07.
  39. 1 2 "Facing the Challenge of an Evolving Digital Civil Space". Digital Impact. 2020-05-14. Archived from the original on 2021-06-04. Retrieved 2021-06-04.
  40. ↑ VanderSloot, B., McDonald, A., Scott, W., Halderman, J. A., & Ensafi, R. (2018). Quack: Scalable Remote Measurement of Application-Layer Censorship. In Proceedings of the 27th USENIX Security Symposium.
  41. ↑ Hoang, P. N., Doreen, S., Polychronakis, M., (2019). Measuring I2P Censorship at a Global Scale. In Proceedings of the 9th USENIX Workshop on Free and Open Communications on the Internet.
  42. ↑ Raman, R. S., Stoll, A., Dalek, J., Ramesh, R. Scott, W., & Ensafi, R. (2020). Measuring the Deployment of Network Censorship Filters at Global Scale. Network and Distributed System Security (NDSS) Symposium 2020.
  43. ↑ Weinberg, Zachary (2018). Toward Automated Worldwide Monitoring of Network-level Censorship (Thesis). Carnegie Mellon University – via ResearchGate.
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