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Research and campaign grants in 2023

These grants are for research and campaign activities that are linked to APC’s strategic advocacy areas. They can be used for research and advocacy around internet access and rights, as well as activities that build civil society capacity to participate in internet governance. These grants support local campaigns that contribute to members’ advocacy work and are also meant to enable members to participate in APC-wide campaigns.

List of projects implemented in 2023:

7amleh-The Arab Center for Social Media Advancement – Enhancing protection of youth digital rights

Palestinian children and youth not only represent the future potential health, success and growth of Palestine, but also constitute a significant portion of the society. Specifically, more than one third of the population is under 15 years of age, and those 0-14 years old made up an average of 38% of the total population at the end of 2021 (36% in the West Bank and 41% in the Gaza Strip). The virtual world has become the primary space where children and youth across the occupied Palestinian territories spend their time, as well as where they express their opinions and political views. However, 87% of Palestinian children and youth rarely or never participate in political discussions online due to fear of prosecution from authorities who monitor their social media content. In addition to being under surveillance and targeted by governmental authorities, many youth are exposed to cyber bullying, pornographic material, extortion, theft of personal virtual accounts and personal information, social or political persecution from sharing personal opinions, sexual harassment, and other forms of abuse. 

This proposed action will build on 7amleh's existing research on threats that Palestinian youth face in the digital space, and will contribute to an updated understanding of the threats faced by Palestinian youth, especially those faced by politically engaged youth. 

Read "Digital Security Among Palestinian Youth Citizens of Israel: A Study on Threats and Challenges in Light of the War on Gaza"

Acción Ecológica – Comunicación, derechos y naturaleza (Communication, rights and nature)

The communities, territories and nature of Ecuador face serious threats due to the accelerated advance of the frontiers of extractivism, agro-industry, mega-infrastructures, free trade agreements and false solutions to climate change. This is largely the result of narratives built by governments and business sectors that cover up impacts such as the destruction of forests, wetlands and their biodiversity, water pollution, dispossession of local sources of livelihood, conflicts in communities, criminalisation of human rights and the rights of nature, displacement, labour exploitation and others. The use of means such as digital technology are frequently used to intimidate, censor or surveil rights defenders.

That is why it is important to raise awareness of and coordinate efforts to fight back against this anti-rights violence exercised through technological means, as well as raising the visibility of the social and environmental consequences of extractivism and of proposals oriented towards post-extractivism that are promoted by civil society.

ALIN – Supporting digital inclusion through ALINET

Since 2007, the Arid Lands Information Network (ALIN) has operated a network of ICT hubs called Maarifa (Knowledge) Centres in remote areas to support access to ICTs and digital transformation among communities. One of the ALIN centres is located in Sipili market in Laikipia county in Kenya, and has the potential to serve nearby markets and a population of approximately 27,000 people. There are approximately 400 registered businesses, with less than 1% having internet connectivity. 

This project is aimed at building the first phase of community infrastructure to bring internet access to an underserved area, empower local communities, stimulate economic growth, enhance education and digital literacy, and foster civic engagement. It will offer a people-centred approach to connectivity through the involvement of the governing body of the Sipili Maarifa Centre.

AlterMundi – De este lado del Mango (From this side of the “Buck”)

In Argentina, around five million people are part of the people’s economy – the organised informal economy – and work without a boss. They usually do not produce for themselves, but for those who have access to money, i.e. national currency. There is no comprehensive study of the circuits of the people's economy and how it relates to the country's formal economy. Most families involved in the people's economy work in the production of basic products (food, clothing, etc.) and basic services (care, cleaning, construction, maintenance, etc.). They also represent the population with most unattended basic needs. Through its multi-year-long work with this sector, AlterMundi has identified that it is the shortage of national currency that forces these people to dedicate their energy and effort away from their own sectoral needs. 

AlterMundi believes that the people's economy in Argentina would benefit greatly from the creation and adoption of a community currency and exchange system of its own (which would be financed as a different project). It has worked on this type of technology on numerous occasions in the past and it is confident that through the strategies established in this project, the Mango community currency has enormous potential for success. (“Mango” is a slang term for money in Argentina, similar to the term “buck” in North American English.)

In this fertile field, AlterMundi seeks to plant the Mango community currency. Identifying the connection channels of the economic circuits will generate trust in the alternative currency that will later be introduced from this space built in common, forged through networking.

CITAD – Incubating young female digital policy leaders for gendering digital policy making in Nigeria

The gender digital divide is not just about differentials in terms of access to and benefits of digital technology, but also the unequal participation of women in the policy-making process. Out of 10 digital technology-related government agencies in Nigeria, only one has a female head. All 10 have males as chairs of their governing boards and the memberships of these policy-making agencies are dominated by men. 

Even at the level of management, women are underrepresented. This has created a distance between women and the digital policy-making processes in the country, leading to gender-blind policies and practices that tend to perpetuate, rather than overcome, the gender digital divide. This relative absence of women in the policy-making space is also attributable to the fact there are few women who are well versed enough in digital policy analysis so as to break the barriers and be able to sit at the policy-making tables. Addressing this problem will contribute to gendering the policy-making processes and result in the outcome of gender-sensitive policies.

Código Sur – Digital rights in a queer comic

This project will address debate and reflection around the great importance of privacy, which is not sufficiently developed and communicated for the average person. Due to this lack of widespread knowledge, it is very easy for abusive technology companies that implement data mining, such as large corporations, to maintain a high level of spying and violation of people's privacy.

This is common especially in Latin America, where violence and conflicts are part of the everyday struggle for the majority of the population, meaning that there is a particular need for reflection that enables the development of new narratives around privacy, the use of technologies, and how we can think about their use from a place of greater respect for human rights.

Through a queer comic, Código Sur plans to share ideas and experience, through a collaborative effort, to create a narrative for a broad audience that invites us to reflect on different aspects of our privacy and our rights in the digital realm. This will be a modest contribution to promote the construction of other stories about human rights and determine what conceptual tools can be developed to dialogue with this reality in a way that leads us to ask the right questions, which will directly influence decisions about the use/misuse of data and the amount of it that is given to corporations.

Colnodo – Environmental alert system

Citizen science has become a tool where communities are a fundamental part of any research and actively participate in the process of collecting and analysing data on issues that affect their quality of life.

Colnodo has recently implemented a platform for the management of geographic information system (GIS) projects using the free and open source software QGIS Desktop and QGIS Server. This makes it possible to undertake different GIS-based projects using a single platform: https://mapas.rds.org.co. Building on this experience, Colnodo wants to encourage the use of the environmental reporting channel of the Sustainable Development Network, www.rds.org.co, to share its experiences with citizen science and GIS tools.

Colnodo will offer communities and organisations access to an environmental reporting platform linked to GIS and monitoring sensors for the collection of data related to the aforementioned issues, ensuring availability and consultation in the form of databases and cartographic products through a collaborative process that is open to all.

DEF – Digital Citizen Summit 2023/Community Network Xchange

Through this grant, two different physical events will be organised by the Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF), along with a process of knowledge building leading up to them. The project aims to create spaces where individuals and stakeholders can come together to talk about various aspects of digital rights. The Community Network Xchange, in its seventh year, would address the issues of the continuing digital divide, specifically focusing on mountain and Indigenous communities, while the Digital Citizen Summit, in its fifth chapter, would deliberate and discuss emerging issues of digitisation, focusing on digital governance, human rights and the future of the internet.

EngageMedia – Amplifying digital rights voices in the Asia-Pacific: Pretty Good Podcast Live at DRAPAC23

The Asia-Pacific region grapples with multifaceted challenges to human and digital rights. This nexus ranges from the discrimination, digital violence and unwarranted surveillance faced by women and LGBTQIA+ communities, to digital authoritarianism, the normalisation of state surveillance, increased censorship of dissenting voices, and the erosion of democratic values. Furthermore, the region is facing a surge of digital disinformation, compelling the delicate balance between countering falsehoods while upholding freedom of expression. EngageMedia firmly believes in the importance of a collaborative, cross-sectoral approach to raise awareness about these issues and safeguard fundamental rights. 

One of the ways it does so is through “Pretty Good Podcast: Discussions on Digital Rights in the Asia-Pacific”, a video podcast dedicated to mainstreaming digital rights in the region by amplifying regional voices and linking current affairs to issues on and related to digital rights. Through the special series titled “Pretty Good Podcast Live at DRAPAC23”, recorded during the 2023 Digital Rights Asia-Pacific Assembly (DRAPAC23), EngageMedia aims to raise awareness of critical threats to digital rights confronting advocates and human rights defenders. It also aims to highlight the essential work of organisations across the region, and foster solidarity and collaboration among the digital rights community. Through the audiovisual medium, the podcast series makes digital rights issues more accessible to broader audiences and provides an inclusive platform for rights defenders to engage with others in the region.

Listen to the podcast series here.

EsLaRed – Sensitisation, orientation and social acculturation campaign on the comprehensive management of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) in Venezuela, to promote the holistic transformation of society and environmental sustainability

When evaluating the influence of public policies on the management of WEEE in Venezuela, through research carried out in 2022, it was determined that one of the critical problems that exists in the country is the insufficiency of public policies for the comprehensive management of WEEE in Venezuela, which generates irreversible damage to the environment, due to inappropriate WEEE practices and lack of awareness of the key actors (government, communities, companies) about the risks involved. Faced with this reality, one of the main challenges is to raise awareness and educate communities and particularly the members of the responsible entities, from both the public and private sectors, on the implementation of adequate mechanisms to manage WEEE in Venezuela in an integral and coordinated way, so as to achieve transformations in society and mitigate damage to the environment.

It is for this reason that implementing a campaign of awareness raising and guidance on the integral management of WEEE, aimed at organised communities and members of strategic entities, particularly in Libertador Municipality in the State of Merida, but in a way that is also potentially replicable, represents a way to start addressing the problem raised.

Fantsuam Foundation – Digital empowerment for five Women's Village Savings and Loan Associations

Women in rural communities are among the most vulnerable and digitally excluded groups in Nigeria. Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLA) have been successful in introducing financial services to rural communities. The VSLA empowers its members to mobilise savings and offers loans to its members based on a transparent and democratic process. Fantsuam Foundation is now working with 26 VSLA groups with a total membership of 602. In order to improve their services and enhance their accountability, this project will provide capacity building in digital literacy for 50 of the members and also support the digitisation of their records.

Intervozes – Free territories, free technologies: Territorial caravan for internet access and socio-environmental justice

Since 2020, Intervozes, through the Free Territories, Free Technologies project, has been working in a territorial advocacy process to promote the right to communication, access to the internet, information and technology among rural and traditional communities. To face the challenge of the fight for territory, for socio-environmental justice, and the promotion of a free internet, a detailed survey was carried out through listening and sharing experiences with 31 rural and quilombola communities in northeastern Brazil.

After this, a campaign was planned focusing on the right to access the internet and ICTs for these communities. As part of the first stage of this campaign, this project proposes to carry out a territorial caravan on internet access and socio-environmental justice, strengthening local advocacy capacities and producing narratives for access to a free, open and safe internet, respecting the autonomy of communities, combating racism and promoting gender equality. As a pilot strategy, two participating communities were chosen, which presented minimal, still precarious, levels of connectivity and access to public policies: Quilombo Sumidouro, in Queimada Nova-Piauí, and Assentamento Vitória da União, in Sergipe.

Jinbonet – Empowering civil society: How to regulate the risks of AI

After the match of the century between Google DeepMind's AlphaGo and professional Go player Lee Sedol in 2016, ChatGPT once again shocked Korean society. While the match between AlphaGo and Lee Sedol was a spectacle, ChatGPT was more accessible to the general public because people could try it out for themselves.

There are a number of problems that AI services or algorithms can cause, such as discriminatory decisions, errors, lack of transparency and accountability, and privacy violations, which are often raised in the media. However, compared to the speed at which AI is being developed and adopted into society, there has been very little public discussion on how to regulate it. 

This project aims to develop the capacity of civil society activists and train them by introducing them to proposals and debates in other countries for the regulation of AI, including the European Union's AI Act, through online forums and reports. Jinbonet will also organise a civil society forum on AI to discuss civil society's positions on issues related to AI regulation.

Jokkolabs Banjul – Combating gender-based violence online against female activists in The Gambia

Gender-based violence (GBV) remains a pressing issue worldwide, including in online spaces. Female activists in The Gambia face threats, harassment and violence online, hindering their ability to advocate for gender equality and human rights. The recent online attacks by a notable Islamic scholar in The Gambia after the courts prosecuted women who mutilated young females despite the ban on female genital mutilation (FGM) is a good example, as can be seen here and here. 

This proposal outlines a research and campaign plan to combat GBV online against female activists in The Gambia. Through this research and campaign, the Ministry of Gender and Women Affairs and other key stakeholders will have access to informed data and insights. This will help guide activists on the ground to better understand the impact of GBV online.

LaLibre.net – Weaving a network of digital rights defenders in Ecuador

In Ecuador, many digital rights defenders are doing important work, but often they are doing it alone or disconnected from others. LaLibre.net wants to change that. Its plan is to bring these individuals and organisations together for a two-day meeting at the end of November or the beginning of December 2023 to lay the foundations for a network for the exchange of experiences and lessons learned. It will be an opportunity to share ideas, learn from each other, and build a network strengthening ties and improving collaboration.

MAJI – Mainstreaming locally led processes for digital inclusion

As of January 2022, Nigeria’s internet penetration rate stood at 51% of the total population, which is estimated to be 200 million people. Despite the seeming expansion of low-cost mobile tools and broadband internet access in urban cities, rural communities are still struggling with supposed market forces that hinder their access to the internet, thereby further widening the digital gap within Nigeria. This lack of digital inclusion consequently reduces the participation of marginalised groups in discussions around the issues of the environment, social development, economic empowerment and democratic participation. 

The Media Awareness and Justice Initiative (MAJI) has identified that there is a need for participatory approaches and a community-oriented process that provides sustainable platforms for grassroots communication and the ideal framework for the digital inclusion of underserved communities. 

MAJI is proposing a research and campaign project that firstly seeks to interface and document the various community processes needed in deploying a sustainable and locally owned community network within the Nigerian context. Leveraging existing collaborations and structures, MAJI will document existing community networks within Nigeria. Following the completion of the research and the interactive engagements with target stakeholders, the MAJI project team will carry out a capacity-building training session for communities looking to deploy last mile technologies using collaborative communal purchase and maintenance strategies. This campaign will aim to raise the awareness of the public on the need for digital inclusion and digital security. MAJI envisages that this will contribute to the national campaign advocating for the signing into law of the Digital Rights and Freedom Bill. 

Nodo TAU – Awareness-raising campaign on recovery and recycling of unused equipment to activate and motivate stakeholders for its correct treatment

Although the problem of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) has gained visibility in the region, it is still not assumed as a problem and there is little clarity regarding the correct way to address it. Nodo TAU has been following a path that took it from dealing with the excess of equipment in its work spaces to recognising how this problem can generate a job opportunity for young people, reduce the environmental impact of disused equipment and recover it for social uses.

This project is motivated by the context of a universe of actors around Nodo TAU and the TAU Work Cooperative who do not know what the correct management of electronic waste entails, the standards that regulate it, or the resources they have at their disposal to do so. Among these actors are government entities, educational institutions, companies, sectors of the social economy, social organisations and the community in general.

Nodo TAU proposes to carry out a campaign about the impact of WEEE aimed at local actors to advance awareness regarding the importance of the correct treatment of electronic waste. Through this campaign the objective is to activate these groups by offering information on the subject and motivating them to assume their responsibilities regarding WEEE and thus promote the correct disposal of the equipment, the reduction of the environmental impact, the generation of services for the WEEE Management Plant and the recovery of equipment for social organisations.

Pangea – Is your TECH use safe enough?

In the last few years, Pangea has identified the need to better explain and expand key practices and concepts related to internet services to its community, to improve their knowledge and consequently their capacity to critically decide and choose what technologies are more ethical and sustainable to use. In its past projects – How do you TECH at your organisation?, Your TECH choices make a difference, and Is your TECH use sustainable, ethical and safe? – Pangea paid attention to different subjects related to the ecological and sustainable use of TECH, as well as to ethical criteria for choosing TECH options.

This project aims to continue shortening the distance between transformative organisations and ethical technologies through the development, publication and dissemination of educational and practical materials on critical decisions in the consumption and use of information and communications technology.

PROTEGE QV – Digital rights awareness days in Cameroon

The internet, due to the numerous advantages it confers (reduced costs, elimination of geographical barriers, speed of communications, mobilisation capabilities, etc.) today constitutes an essential means of enjoying human rights. The recent health crisis due to COVID-19 has reinforced and accentuated this trend with the increased use of the internet and digital tools for educational, professional and social purposes. However, in Cameroon, these online human rights or digital rights seem little known to many citizens and moreover, institutions, both public and private, as well as the media and civil society organisations, would benefit from being equipped to better ensure their respect and promotion. That’s the reason why PROTEGE QV wants to organise a week of sensitisation and reflection on the promotion and protection of digital rights in Cameroon.

Rudi International – HakiConf 2023: The Conference on Human Rights in the Digital Age in the DRC

HakiConf, the Conference on Human Rights in the Digital Age in the DRC, is the major gathering on the topic in Francophone Africa, giving the opportunity to various stakeholders to come together and discuss the major trends in the digital rights ecosystem, as well as to learn best practices and to network in order to support the growing digital rights movement in the DRC and the region.

General elections are scheduled for December 2023 in the DRC. Organising the fourth edition of HakiConf on the eve of elections will be the opportunity to discuss the digital rights challenges for the current electoral process (such as misinformation, hate speech and fake news), as well as to strategise and get ready to fight against the threats that usually affect the actual elections period (such as internet shutdowns).

This year’s Conference will equip existing digital rights activists, as well as onboard new ones, with the needed advocacy tools, data, information and networking that will help them better fight against digital rights violations and hold political leaders accountable for any violations that may occur.

Learn more: Blog post about the event, video and pictures of day 1 and day 2.

Sulá Batsú – La Colmena: Platform cooperatives led by young rural women in Costa Rica dedicated to the reuse of electronic equipment and value-added services

Digital society is based on economic and business models that are based on the extractivism of nature, data, bodies, knowledge and people's feelings. The large platforms that are based on extractivism have become the benchmark for successful digital economy ventures and are led primarily by white urban men. Sulá Batsú believes that it is urgent to explore, invent and promote other forms of entrepreneurship that demonstrate that it is possible to develop a digital economy based on solidarity, care, reduction of accumulation and commitment to the community.

This is a participatory action-research project that seeks to study whether the necessary conditions are in place in Costa Rica for the creation of the first platform cooperatives led by young rural women who have graduated from technical high schools, but who have had to stay in their rural territories due to their gender-related conditions (pregnancy, care of family members, prohibition of mobility by boyfriends, husbands and fathers, early marriages, etc.).

TEDIC – Libres y Segures: La resistencia digital y seguridad digital desde el goce (Libres y Segures: Digital security and resistance from joy)

The global conservative wave currently affecting historic global social demands is not alien to Paraguay. From an apparent political will trying to establish a Ministry of the Family to prohibiting the teaching of “gender ideology” in schools: it is clear that vulnerable communities such as women and LGBTQI+ people will face a number of challenges in years to come.

To tackle the above, TEDIC proposes a strategic partnership with Cristianos Inclusivos and Arcoiris to promote honest discussions and trainings on what it means to be safe online and offline through the flagship Libres y Segures digital security programme. A series of face-to-face and remote activities are proposed around digital and physical safety, with particular attention to the needs and realities of LGBTQI+ activists as well as people from the community who don’t belong to a particular group. The project will aim to promote discussion and develop a playful approach to the enjoyment of human rights for all people. All activities will be carried out in a way that aims to foster the secure participation of individuals in Paraguayan gay pride events in September and in years to come. 

Read Seeding change: Celebrating the LGBTQIA+ community while defending rights and promoting digital security

Unwanted Witness – Respectful use of digital technology in Africa

Rapid developments in surveillance technologies, artificial intelligence, automation, robotics and others areas continue to surface new human rights risks and raise serious questions about potential future adverse impacts. Africa’s technology sector has a poor record of respecting human rights, principally because of weak or non-existent regulatory frameworks on many aspects of digital technology. This is further compounded by the widespread data-driven business models that pose serious risks for human rights.

This project shall therefore focus on the role and responsibility of data collectors and processors in the technology sector, including researching their practices and legal compliance towards data privacy as well as supporting broad-based efforts to promote an accountable and rights-respecting deployment of digital technologies within their services.

Furthermore, the project will cover Uganda, Kenya, Mauritius and Zimbabwe, and research findings shall directly be presented to designated African data protection regulators to support their mandate of promoting transparency, deepen the understanding of the human rights obligations of data collectors/processors, and engage on policy issues around the protection of people’s rights and freedoms. 

VOICE – Ensuring online safety to counter attacks on the privacy of journalists, women and human rights defenders through research and campaigning

Privacy is a fundamental human right, which protects human dignity and forms the basis of any democratic society. It also supports and reinforces other rights, such as freedom of expression and access to information. However, this fundamental right has become a major concern for today’s journalists and human rights defenders (HRDs). 

Journalists and HRDs face more significant digital security threats and privacy attacks due to their access to valuable and confidential information. The biggest threats that journalists face vary in different situations, from personal threats from readers disagreeing with their mission, to cyberstalking, targeted surveillance by government law enforcement agencies, or getting targeted with disinformation campaigns. The alleged widespread use of Pegasus software to spy on journalists, human rights defenders, politicians and others in Bangladesh is extremely alarming and seems to confirm some of the worst fears about the potential misuse of surveillance technology to illegally undermine people’s human rights, including the right to privacy.

This project will perform a nationwide situation analysis titled “Online safety and privacy of journalists, women and human rights defenders is Bangladesh”. The study will provide data for evidence-based campaigning and advocacy. Recommendations will provide information on digital security resources, tools and information available online to help safeguard personal data. 

WOUGNET – Enhancing women’s rights online through gender-inclusive and effective implementation of the data protection and privacy legal frameworks in Uganda

Data is increasingly being recognised as the most important asset globally for nascent policy making, private and public sector innovation and performance management, and creating new entrepreneurial opportunities for businesses and individuals. However, Uganda’s existing Data Protection and Privacy Act 2019 focuses primarily on data ethics and governance issues relating to the social impacts of datafication and the increasing consequences of the use of data-intensive technologies in terms of data protection, individual rights, privacy efficiency and security. This is contrary to the central role of the data, which requires a high-level and strategic policy perspective that can balance multiple policy objectives, from unleashing the economic and social potential of data to the prevention of harms associated with mass collection and processing of personal data.

WOUGNET is therefore seeking to address these challenges from a gender-inclusive and policy perspective by identifying the exact points of policy intervention in the Data Protection and Privacy Act of 2019 and the National Data Strategy, which is still in draft form, using the African Union Data Protection Framework 2022. WOUGNET’s findings will enable the government of Uganda to develop a unified legal approach that is clear, unambiguous and offers protection and obligations for equitable and safe access to data for innovation and competition both in Uganda and globally.