The Oxen Privacy Tech Foundation (OPTF) has published a new report identifying the key digital threats that human rights defenders (HRDs) from Africa, MENA, South Asia, and Southeast Asia are facing today. The research also lists recommendations for improving digital security knowledge and practice on the ground.
In these four regions, the reports highlights that HRDs are at the receiving end of digital attacks in four distinct ways:
- Personal, such as through online surveillance and targeted hate speech
- Reputational, such as when disinformation is deployed to discredit activists and civil society organisations
- Legal, as cyber laws continue to be used to quash freedom of expression
- Infrastructural, such as through internet shutdowns and throttling
EngageMedia is one of the key collaborators in the report, connecting OPTF with activists and civil society organisations in the Asia-Pacific region. Included in the report are snapshots of the most prevalent kinds of digital rights attacks in India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.
OPTF, formerly the Loki Foundation, also partnered with ASL19, Blueprint for Free Speech, and the Indonesian Association for Media Development for the report.
