A global consortium is working to strengthen internet freedom

Strengthening digital security, increasing citizen participation, advancing respect for human rights,…

AfricTivistes’ programme coordinator, Aisha Dabo, took part in the second meeting of the Greater Internet Freedom (GIF) project’s Research Advisory Board on the digital rights and security ecosystem, held this month in Kampala-Entebbe, Uganda. The Research Advisory Board provided feedback on the initial research findings and future research proposals. The Advisory Board comprises around ten digital sector stakeholders from around the world.

Journalists, activists, academics and marginalised groups around the world face considerable risks online, often because governments impose authoritarian digital policies that violate fundamental freedoms, including the freedoms of assembly, association and expression online. The Greater Internet Freedom (GIF) project, running for three years (2020–2023)  by a consortium led by Internews and funded by the United States Agency for International Development, aims to strengthen the digital security of civil society organisations and the media, increase citizen participation in debates on internet governance, and advance human rights online, with the aim of addressing global digital threats and proactively promoting an open internet. GIF covers around 40 countries worldwide.

The Ugandan organisation Pollicy has been commissioned to carry out participatory research on behalf of the GIF with a view to strengthening the digital rights and digital security ecosystem. The Advisory Board has been set up to support this initiative.

The organisation will therefore carry out a review of the digital rights and security ecosystem, including organisations, actors and stakeholders. Among other things, the organisation will help to identify examples of actors, policies and programmes promoting digital rights and security, as well as lessons learnt from successful and unsuccessful interventions in the field of digital rights; it will also develop expert narratives and profiles identifying career paths and skills, etc.

Pollicy will finally draw on the recommendations published in the research reports, publish short blog posts, etc. The aim of the research is to help Internews, the GIF consortium, USAID and the internet freedom community to make better use of opportunities and address challenges.