The 10th edition of the Global Internet Governance Forum (IGF) opened in Joao Pessoa, Brazil on 10 November 2015 with a call by the United Nations for respect and observance of basic human rights online. UN Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression, David Kaye, said…
New research by the Web Foundation shows that the dramatic spread of mobile phones is not enough to get women online, or to achieve empowerment of women through technology. The study, based on a survey of thousands of poor urban men and women across nine developing countries*, found that while nearly all women and men…
The rapid penetration of smartphones in India is redefining mobility to create a connected nation. Mobile phone today, in the words of economist Jeffrey Sachs, “is the single most transformative tool for development.” With increasing smartphone penetration and rapidly growing Internet users, India has moved at a phenomenal pace towards digitization. Currently, nearly 74% of…
If we closely observe Facebook’s advertisements related with Internet.org (now Free Basics), we will observe a common theme: empowerment of rural communities via Internet. But the problem with Free Basics is that, it only allows access to few websites, which are under control of Facebook. This makes it anti-net neutral, discriminatory, and biased. Aircel has…
Global Voices Advocacy’s Netizen Report offers an international snapshot of challenges, victories, and emerging trends in Internet rights around the world. At the UN-sponsored Internet Governance Forum in Brazil this week, several activists were stopped from demonstrating in support of net neutrality and against Facebook’s Internet.org application, which is now known as “Free Basics”. Civil…
10 November 2015 – To cover the “breadth and depth” of the recently adopted Sustainable Development Goals, the potential of the data revolution must be explored through the use of new and non-traditional sources of data, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stressed at the 10th annual Internet Governance Forum (IGF), which opened today in João…
Recently, we all have witnessed the ray of tricolor profile pictures on the internet and especially on the most popular social networking site, Facebook. This practice started when Mark Zukerberg, CEO of Facebook Inc. changed his profile picture with overlying tri-colors resembling the Indian flag. The change of profile pictures was in support of making…
Author’s name: Buddha Deb, Digital Empowerment Foundation India João Pessoa, Brazil IGF 2015: The right to protest online Internet Governance Forum: The right to protest online In the digital age, protests are no longer limited to assemblies and gatherings in physical spaces but are increasingly taking place, in whole or in part, online. Although calls have…
Project Name: Stop Honor Killing Initiated by: IKWRO The ‘Stop Honor Killings in India’ blog is the International Campaign Against Honour Killing, a project started by Diana Nammi Director and Founder of London-based charity IKWRO that provides support and protection to women faced with ‘with ‘honour’-based violence and forced marriage. The blog shares views and opinions against the honor killings in India…
Project Name: MyNeta.info Initiated by: Association for Democratic Reforms MyNeta.info is an initiative of the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), a nonprofit organization that aims to disclose the criminal, financial and education background of the candidates contesting elections. Along with ADR, the National Election Watch has continuously conducted a survey and conducted Election Watches for the…