RightsCon Tunis 2019

The Internet helped communities facing oppression to publish and get organized more freely, with unprecedented global reach. Censorship was not eradicated on the Internet but nation-states were not fully successful in controlling access to and distribution of online content till now. With the widespread of online social media platforms where in many countries it is equivalent to many to the Internet, the Internet’s global reach was taken to its next level. Platforms did not remain neutral. In the name of preventing harm or under pressure, fighting with disinformation, terrorism and preserving cybersecurity, platforms have been taking content down. There are many other benevolent actors and activists that are marching towards censorship online in the name of fighting with fake news, protecting children and preventing intellectual property violations. Increasingly states, platforms, political parties and activists have been demonstrating similar behavior to that of authoritarian regimes. We would like to discuss how democratic countries, Internet intermediaries and other benevolent actors can be de facto helping autocratic countries to hamper speech and activism. The goal of the session is to provide some insight into the consequences of online content takedown and access blockage for the societies that live in oppression like in MENA.