Content-related resources
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Additional resources include:
Beginners Guide to VPNs ()
Choosing the best VPN ()
Conferencing technology platform review ()
Country Legal Framework Resource ()
EU Cybersecurity Strategy ()
Fact Sheet: How Encryption Can Protect Journalists and the Free Press ()
How journalists can work from home securely ()
How to Choose a VPN ()
HTTPS Everywhere ()
Internet Censorship 2020: A Global Map of Internet Restrictions ()
(VPN)
Physical, emotional and digital protection while using home as office ()
Remote Work and Personal Safety ()
World Map of Encryption ()
Zoombombing prevention & resources guide ()
When a government submits a request to access data, such as for a criminal investigation, the task falls to the organization hosting the content to release it. Yet, what happens if information that is deemed important was written by an agency that is legally registered in, say, country A, hosts their website in county B, but published the story in country C? Legal jurisdiction across borders is already complicated, yet the global nature of the Internet only exacerbates its complexity. Furthermore, the promise of the Internet as a vibrant place for discussion and information sharing has been upheld thanks to the concept of intermediary liability.
It refers to legal protections that enable Internet service providers (ISPs), digital media platforms, and others to support expression without being directly responsible for the material stored on or moving across their networks. Without them, services would be much less willing to accept user-generated content for fear of potential civil and/or criminal liability. With increasing requests to access data by governments, it is key that the journalism support and media development community understands the myriad legal frameworks as well as their rights when it comes to cooperating with law enforcement agencies – particularly with regards to issues surrounding press freedom, freedom of expression, and journalists’ safety.
GDPR has set a standard internationally for the kinds of protections and rights it enables for citizens, and mandates that private sector companies and other entities operating within the EU provide data protection services, even if their headquarters are outside of the EU (referred to as extraterritorial applicability). If an organization or company fails to comply with GDPR rules, they can be fined up to 4% of annual global turnover or €20 Million (whichever is greater).
The need for clear consent and easily accessible terms and conditions.
Notification of privacy breaches or when data has been compromised.
The right of consumers (data subjects) to access and download their personal data, free of charge.
The right to data erasure (also known as the right to be forgotten).
Data portability, which is the right for a consumer to freely transfer their data from one service to another without penalty.
The right to privacy by design, which refers to creating and designing services handling personal data that incorporate privacy principles and provide safeguards to protect data.
Additional resources:
Network disruptions refer to any action taken to limit the ability of a user to access part of the Internet. For example, this can include blocking social media websites during an election, restrictions on over-the-top (OTT) providers like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, blocking content on grounds that it will disturb public order, or even simply the slowing of Internet speeds. More specifically, Internet shutdowns occur when a government or an Internet service provider (ISP) mandates that access to the Internet be completely blocked, often to stymie political dissent and opposition, or to quell social unrest.
Research and reports
RTBF & GDPR
Bad News game ()
Factitious game ()
Fake news: Is media literacy the answer? ()
Big Data, Not Big Brother: New Data Protection Laws and the Implications for Independent Media Around the World ()
Content and Jurisdiction: Operational approaches ()
Country Legal Framework Resource (CLFR) ()
– open database of digital rights law from around the world
Data and Jurisdiction: Operational approaches ()
Domains and Jurisdiction: Operational approaches ()
Empirical evidence of “over-removal” by Internet companies under intermediary liability laws (Daphne Keller, )
Glossary of Platform Law and Policy Terms ()
IGF Dynamic Coalition on Platform Responsibility ()
Intermediary Liability ()
Intermediary Liability and Content Regulation ()
Intermediary liability in Africa ()
Internet and Jurisdiction Global Status Report 2019 ()
Jurisdictional Assertions and Limits ()
Manilla Principles on Intermediary Liability ()
Platform value(s): A multidimensional framework for online responsibility ()
Policy Brief For Public and Private Decision-Makers Helps Determine the Geographic Scope of Content Restrictions ()
Recommendations on Terms of Service and Human Rights ()
Santa Clara Principles on Transparency and Accountability in Content Moderation ()
Terms of Service; Didn’t Read ()
Who Has Your Back? Government Data Requests 2017 ()
World Intermediary Liability Map ()
The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation () is a law on that applies to all individuals within the EU and the European Economic Area (EEA), including both citizens and residents. It aims to simplify the regulatory environment for international business by unifying the regulation within the EU. Passed in 2016, GDPR went into effect on 25 May 2018, and brought with it a host of new measures that empower citizens and residents with control over their personal data, and it also addresses the export of personal data outside the EU.
GDPR certain policies and privacy standards into law, such as but not limited to:
Two Years Under the EU GDPR: An Implementation Progress Report ()
recorded more than 116 Internet shutdowns across at least 30 countries from the period between January 2016 and September 2017, and the number of Internet shutdowns continues to increase, often citing dubious reasons. Whether it involves blocking access at a technical level or by even physically cutting the cables that deliver the Internet, Internet shutdowns stifle free expression, cut off access to information, and costs at least US$2.4 billion in lost gross domestic product (GDP) globally. For more information, see:
#KeepItOn campaign ()
Country Legal Frameworks Resource ()
Dialling in the Law: A comparative assessment of jurisprudence on Internet shutdowns ()
Freedom Online Coalition Joint Statement on State Sponsored Network Disruptions ()
Internet Shutdowns ()
Internet Shutdowns: An Internet Society Public Policy Briefing ()
Internet shutdowns: The “new normal” in government repression? ()
Internet shutdowns cost countries $2.4 billion last year ()
Internet Society Perspectives on Internet Content Blocking: An Overview ()
ISOC Insights: Internet Shutdowns ()
Navitating Litigation during Internet Shutdowns in Southern Africa ()
Netblocks: Mapping Internet freedom ()
Network disruptions ()
Of Blackouts and Bandhs: The Strategy and Structure of Disconnected Protest in India ()
The Rise of Internet Throttling: A Hidden Threat to Media Development ()
Pay Models for Online News in the US and Europe: 2019 Update ()
Platforms and Publishers: The End of an Era ()
Platform regulations: How platforms are regulated and how they regulate us ()
Recipient Perceptions of Media Development Assistance: A GFMD Study ( | )
Regulating the new information intermediaries as gatekeepers of information diversity ()
Reinventing Local TV News: Innovative Storytelling Practices to Engage New Audiences ()
Restoring Competition in “Winner-Took-All” Digital Platform Markets ()
Saving Journalism: A Vision for the Post-Covid World ()
Setting Rules for 2.7 Billion. A (First) Look into Facebook’s Norm-Making System: Results of a Pilot Study ()
Small is Beautiful – New Business Models for Digital Media: A Case Study ()
Social media gatekeeping: An analysis of the gatekeeping influence of newspapers’ public Facebook pages ()
Special Delivery: How Internet Platforms Use Artificial Intelligence to Target and Deliver Ads ()
Spotlight: Rethinking digital ads ()
Stigler Committee on Digital Platforms: Final Report ( | )
Committee for the Study of Digital Platforms: Media Subcommittee ()
Committee for the Study of Digital Platforms: Market Structure and Antitrust Subcommittee ()
Streaming War Won: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the News – Searching for a way for streaming to save the news (and for the news to save streaming) ()
Strengthening Consumer Protection and Competition in the Digital Economy ()
Supporting Media at a Time of Crisis: Donors Explore New Strategies ()
Surveillance Giants: How the Business Model of Google and Facebook Threatens Human Rights ()
Taxes: tech giants’ head start over traditional media ()
The Black Market for Social Media Manipulation ()
The Economic Costs of Keyword Blacklists for Online Publishers ()
See Cheq’s for more information on digital market research
The Impact of Digital Platforms on News and Journalistic Content ()
The Market of Disinformation ()
The Publisher’s Guide to eCommerce ()
The Rise of Content Cartels: Urging transparency and accountability in industry-wide content removal decisions ()
The Separation of Platforms and Commerce ()
The state of technology in global newsrooms 2019 ()
The Valorization of Surveillance: Towards a Political Economy of Facebook ()
Tracking media development donor support: An update on 2016 funding levels ()
Transparency Reporting Index ()
Investigation of Competition in Digital Markets Final Report ()
Using Data Science Tools for Email Audience Analysis: A Research Guide ()
VTDigger: A Rising Star in Nonprofit News ()
Weaponizing the Digital Influence Machine: The Political Perils of Online Ad Tech ()
What Can Be Done? Digital Media Policy Options for Strengthening European Democracy ()
When content moderation hurts ()
Who Has Your Back? Censorship Edition 2019 ()
Why Google Dominates Advertising Markets ()
Access Now : Understanding the “Right to be Forgotten” Globally
Background: The Right to be Forgotten in National and Regional Contexts ()
EU Data Protection Law: A “Right to be Forgotten?” ()
Europe’s top court backs Germany: Murderers have no (European Centre for Press & Media Freedom – ECPMF)
How the “Right to be Forgotten” Challenges ()
IFLA on the Right to be Forgotten
Information Not Found: The “Right to be Forgotten” as an Emerging Threat to Media Freedom in the Digital Age ()
Media Online Archives: A Source for Historical Research or a Threat to Privacy? ()
Mission creep: The expanding scope of the “right to be forgotten” ()
The Internet has become the external hard drive for our memories (
The “Right to be Forgotten” and Search Engine Liability ()
The “Right to Be Forgotten” – Negotiating in the European Union
The “Right to be Forgotten” – Remembering Freedom of Expression ()
by Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Representative on Freedom of the Media on ruling of the European Union Court of Justice
Google Spain SL and Google Inc. v Agencia Española de Protección de Datos (AEPD) and Mario Costeja González ()
Internet: Case-law of the European Court of Human Rights ()
P8_TA-PROV(2018)0204 – Media Pluralism and Media Freedom in the European Union ()
Recommendation CM/Rec(2018)2 of the Committee of Ministers to Member States on the Roles and Responsibilities of Internet Intermediaries ()
GDPR : Your essential partners to understand and apply the GDPR
Right to erasure ()