Since early 2015, the Local Action to Secure Internet Rights (LASIR) project has focused on empowering national and local actors in their defence of human rights on the internet, in countries as diverse as South Korea, Brazil, the Philippines, India, Jordan, Uganda, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bangladesh, Kenya and Tunisia. All LASIR partners are strong local organisations, with ongoing work on internet rights. They are developing, together with APC, integrated strategies of policy research, context analysis, coalition building, media outreach and popular engagement.
Now that the project has reached its final stage, APC is sharing a series of interviews to highlight the participants’ experiences and conclusions. Today, we want you to meet the Jordan Open Source Association, which works for the adoption and implementation of the Open Source philosophy in Jordan.
What was your goal when you decided to be part of the LASIR project?
Our main goal at the moment is the Jordan Charter of Digital Rights, so our work and efforts have been oriented to that. Starting with a website for the charter, making sure it is interactive so that the charter draft can be commented on and discussed.
Have you accomplished that goal?
Well, the website is launched, with all information on the Charter of Digital Rights (in Arabic). We have also got together a working group made up of different people and organisations who want to contribute to the charter, including human rights organisations like the Arab Committee for Human Rights, Save the Children Jordan and Development Gate for Human Rights Studies; media organisations Al-Rai Newspaper, 7iber and Aramram Web TV; NGOs like Lawyers Without Borders Jordan; and academics from Yarmouk University and the German-Jordanian University.
We also organised local dialogue events and produced an issue paper on the current status of internet rights in Jordan, the legal framework governing the internet, and the key stakeholders regarding internet governance.
Where can we follow your work and activities?
- Website: http://jordanopensource.org/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/jo_osa
- Jordan Charter of Digital Rights: https://www.josa.ngo/publications?category=all (in Arabic)