Tootfinder

For more than a decade, dozens of journalists and human rights activists have been
🆘 targeted and hacked by governments all over the world.
Cops and spies in Ethiopia, Greece, Hungary, India, Mexico, Poland, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates, among others, have used sophisticated #spyware to compromise the phones of these victims, who at times have also faced real-world

Meet the team that hunts government spyware
For years, Access Now’s Digital Security Helpline has been aiding journalists and dissidents who have been targeted with government spyware. This is how they operate.

Exciting news, friends: I’ll be joining an amazing lineup this week as MC for the Mozilla Festival in Barcelona! If you’ll be there in person, please do say hi, and if not, join online as the schedule promises to be extraordinary. Get the details here: https://www.mozillafestival.org/en/

Mozilla Festival 2025 | Ethical AI, Open Source & Digital Rights in Barcelona
Join MozFest 2025 in Barcelona, Nov 7–9 — the global AI policy summit, digital rights event & open source festival for a healthier internet.

Freedom House's Freedom on the Net 2025 report: for the 15th straight year, global internet freedom is in decline; of the 72 countries surveyed, Kenya fell most (Tech Policy Press)
https://www.techpolicy.press/global-internet-freedom-declines-for-…

Global Internet Freedom Declines for 15th Consecutive Year | TechPolicy.Press
Despite funding cuts, Freedom House delivered its annual report on how countries are performing on measures of digital rights and internet freedom.

TikTok tracked user’s Grindr activity in violation of European law, rights group alleges https://therecord.media/tiktok-grindr-data-tracking-noyb

The Authoritarian Stack.
This is brilliant – if you’re interested in human rights, democracy, and tech, and want to understand technofascism/corporatocracy bookmark and read this.👇
#AuthoritarianStack #tech

In Canada, the CBC might be the kind of entity to help run / coordinate “public service social media” as described in this Tech Policy Press article https://www.techpolicy.press/public-service-social-media-as-a-democratic-safeguard/
With interop…

Consider supporting your favorite organization, free-software project, or digital-rights activist. I donate $10 every month to my email provider: https://autisitci.org, avalable at @……

Civil society decries digital rights ‘rollback' as European Commission pushes data protection changes https://therecord.media/civil-society-privacy-rollback

Gute Neuigkeiten vom Bündnis @…:
> [Der] @… und European Digital Rights ( @… #EDRi) als europäischer Dachverband mit über 50 Mitgliedsorganisationen haben sich unseren Forderungen angeschlossen.
👋 Eine Bitte:
> Falls [wer Kontakt hat] zu KollegInnen & Organisationen in #Frankreich / Mittel- & #Osteuropa, ladet sie bitte herzlich ein, mit uns in Kontakt zu treten.
Newsletter abonnieren: #Datenschutz #DigitalRights #Fediverse

There were actually a lot of good recommendations from that Committee report, the one on PR was just the final one! Here's a few more.. including some that local #Fediverse proponents could dig into! @… was on the Committee.
—>FEDI ADVANTAGE<— “The Committee heard about a number of issues related to
the electoral information environment. Members recommend
that the provincial government collaborate with Elections
BC and the federal government to review existing legislative
and regulatory measures related to misinformation,
disinformation, and hate speech during elections, including
**mechanisms to ensure the timely removal of harmful content** (**emphasis added)”
—> FEDI ADVANTAGE<— “To better address challenges associated with social media and emergent technologies such as artificial intelligence, Members recommend establishing a working group to propose amendments to BC’s privacy and election legislation. To better protect all users, the Committee recommends requiring digital platforms to act with a duty of care and establish clear safety-related requirements such as data privacy, platform design, and content policy. The Committee also heard about concerns regarding foreign interference, and recommends that these be considered by the Electoral Integrity Working Group.”
—The Committee heard about the critical importance of
civic education to ensure the public’s understanding of
democratic institutions, processes, and participation. The
Committee recommends strengthening civic education
in the K-12 school system with input from experts and a
greater emphasis on applied learning.
— the Committee suggests enhancing data collection by requiring proactive enumeration on an annual basis and ensuring that registered parties and candidates can access poll-by-poll results. Elections BC should review and improve
voter registration practices and communication, as well as
access to and public awareness of voting opportunities. With respect to expanding voter eligibility, the Committee supports further examination of extending voting rights to 16- and 17-year-olds as well as permanent residents in BC.
— Committee Members recommend modernizing the candidate nominator verification process, requiring Elections BC to collect and share voters’ contact information with registered political parties and candidates, and strengthening measures related to access to multi-unit buildings for candidates and their campaigns.
Full report to the Legislature: #BCPoli #CanPoli #CdnPoli #ElectoralReform #Democracy #ProportionalRepresentation #Polarization