Global Voices · Citizen media stories about Human Rights

In 2017, the Supreme Court of India ruled that privacy of Indian citizens is a fundamental right -- how will that affect the country's national ID system?

11 July 2018

Iranian authorities arrest ‘Instagram celebrities’, in effort to assert control over social media

Written by Article 19 · Middle East & North Africa

Iranian authorities announce plans to filter Instagram because of the evils of "Instagram celebrities". A few days later, the state broadcaster reveals the arrest of several "Instagram celebrities."

What's happened to digital rights over the past seven years? 300 editions of the Netizen Report will tell you

Written by Ellery Roberts Biddle · Bahrain

This week, we're looking back at seven years of covering global digital rights news in celebration of our 300th edition!

Natural resources surrounded by terror: What is behind the attacks in northern Mozambique?

Written by Alexandre Nhampossa · Sub-Saharan Africa

Since October 2017, Cabo Delgado Province -- a region rich with rubies, gas, oil, and wood -- has suffered violent attacks, the motives of which are unclear to local authorities.

9 July 2018

Chinese mobile phone cameras are not-so-secretly recording users’ activities

Written by Oiwan Lam · East Asia

This design feature has given Chinese mobile users a tangible sense of exactly when and how they are being monitored.

Kashmiris are once again in mourning after Indian army fires on protesters, killing three

Written by GV South Asia · South Asia

A 16-year-old girl named Andleeb Jan was among the dead.

Uganda's tax on social media will widen the digital gender gap

Written by Prudence Nyamishana · Sub-Saharan Africa

"When I interviewed women living in...a slum in Kampala, I learned that for them, WhatsApp and Facebook are the internet...with the new tax, they will be cut off altogether."

6 July 2018

Ugandans say #NoToSocialMediaTax because it exploits women, youth and the poor

Written by Nwachukwu Egbunike · Uganda

Ugandans are saying #NoToSocialMediaTax because it is unconstitutional, increases poverty, targets youth, and exacerbates the digital divide.

5 July 2018

First comprehensive study on child abuse in Madagascar points to alarming level of violence

Written by Blogueurs invités · Sub-Saharan Africa

89% of children report having suffered from domestic abuse at least once and 30% of minors in the island have had a child.

Wrongly labeled as ‘foreign agents’, Russian environmentalists face regulatory punishment — and violent threats

Written by BlueLink · Eastern & Central Europe

Instead of recognition as patriots striving to protect the nature of their homeland, Russian environmentalists get labelled as “foreign agents” by the state, experience pressure, and suffer physical attacks.

4 July 2018

The threat of a restrictive NGO law looms over Slovakia

Written by Tibor Blazko · Eastern & Central Europe

"Mr. Fico and Mr. Pellegrini. The main motivation of our protests is Jano and Martina. If you disrespect it with conspiracy theories, you are laughing at the motivation"

3 July 2018

Lebanese journalist sentenced to prison in absentia, for ‘defaming’ foreign minister on Facebook

Written by Hassan Chamoun · Lebanon

From exile in the UK, Fidaa Itani says the sentence marks the end of an era for free expression in Lebanon.

1 July 2018

The women behind Armenia's “Velvet Revolution”

Written by Chai-Khana.org · Central Asia & Caucasus

The massive protests that felled a long-time ruler showed citizens' impatience for political reforms. But many women want change to go even further.

30 June 2018

With the provisional release of accused gang rapists, many ask if Spain is trivializing violence against women

Written by Lourdes Sada · Western Europe

"Not every man is a rapist, nevertheless, now that the five men charged with sexual abuse have been released from jail, we all become potential victims."