Announcing the Community Health Report 2022/2023!

Join us on March 23rd for chat-based Q&A about the Community Health Report. Learn more.

We are happy to announce the release of Team CommUNITY’s (TCU) latest Community Health Report 2022/2023 (CHR), which provides insights into the urgent needs, trends, and observations of most prolific conversations taking place in the digital rights community.

This year’s edition features regional year-in-reviews from our four Community Leads in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and MENA, based on their year long work nurturing community networks in their respective regions via diverse community building and outreach initiatives - ranging from hosting weekly and monthly gatherings, to writing innovative monthly briefs highlighting important regional perspectives and developments.

It also features observations from several TCU staff, including TCU’s Global Community Manager, Danae Tapia, who is heading up our newest initiative, Digital Justice House (DJH), looking at large structural issues affecting the health of our digital rights community, with special emphasis on labor rights and organizational health.

Our Community Leads

This year’s report is based on the diverse community building work carried out by TCU’s Community Leads in 2022, such as weekly gatherings, monthly Regional Briefs covering regional perspectives and developments, and community support.

Mardiya,
Africa Lead

Astha,
Asia Lead

Ursula,
LATAM Lead

Islam
MENA Lead

To-date, TCU’s Community Health Report has served as a tool to strengthen the health and well-being of digital rights networks across the world. We hope you find it useful.

Join us on March 23rd

For chat-based Q&A about the Community Health Report. Learn more.

How to Use this Report

The report serves as a source of inspiration and guidance for digital rights defenders (DRDs), toolmakers, decision makers and other stakeholders to look beyond mainstream topics and conversations. This is an opportunity to deepen our knowledge of the emerging digital issues and trends that threaten the future and sustainability of digital rights networks around the world, shared from perspectives from “el sur” (aka the Global South or Global Majority).

We encourage you to not only read the report, but discuss it with your colleagues and networks, as we hope our sharings will help improve your strategies, projects and tools.

New Threats and Opportunities on the Horizon

We encourage you to see TCU’s Digital Justice Every Day Toolkit, which provides recommendations on how your organization can effectively improve employee health.

The Critical Need for DRD Organizations to Do Better, and for Better Work-Life Balance

The very health of digital rights defenders (DRDs) continues to be a major challenge that threatens the future of the field, with many folks experiencing transcendental exhaustion. They see 2023 as a time to create better work-life balance. 

In Africa, for example, burnout, exploitation, and lack of trans national support were continuous conversations throughout 2022. These trends, showing up in every region, are leading to a host of issues that are impacting the ability of the DRDs to advance critical Internet Freedom work in a context where there is widening gap between the technical capabilities of repressive entities and the affected public.  

DRDs want to see the very organizations and institutions that they are part of to do better. This means improving structures and practices that prioritize the security of DRDs’ wellbeing, and helps create a more equitable movement.

Hope Continues Among Digital Rights Defenders

Despite many challenges, many DRDs continue to have hope for 2023, seeing it as a year of opportunity and transformation. Many shared that throughout 2022 and beyond, solidarity and collaboration between regions was critical for the wellbeing and protection of their communities. Even the mere act of the International digital rights community mobilizing together to raise awareness of regional situations and threats was significantly impactful to those affected. The Mik Tea Alliance was cited as a good example of successful collective action.

Another positive development is the return of TCU’s Global Gathering, which many DRDs see as a beloved, joyful and safe space to build meaningful collaborations.

Each Region is Unique but there are Commonalities in the Types of Emerging Threats

While each region has unique opportunities and challenges, commonalities exist on the type of emerging threats they are witnessing. This includes the use of artificial intelligence, the increased use of laws and policies to curtail digital rights, continued issues related to platform accountability, and the lack of labor rights protections affecting technology and platform workers.

Key Highlights

• Throughout most of El Sur (aka, the Global South or Global Majority), the lack of education and/or skills to properly use alternative open source solutions like Pluggable Transports continue to be problematic for the uptake of circumvention tools, making at-risk communities more vulnerable. In addition, there is a need to move from localization to contextualization in tool and strategy development, with many noting that the digital rights field continues to be blind to diverse contexts.

• MENA and Asia are experiencing a historic and significant rise in Internet shutdowns or blackouts. India, which leads globally in this area, also began targeting VPN service providers via a law. Meanwhile, China introduced a law which defines what data can be transferred outside of the country without the state’s approval. Other countries in the region are following suit.

• In Africa and Latin America, a rising problem has been the shaming tactics used by digital loan applications against borrowers. The good news, in Latin America, platform workers in companies like Uber and Rappi have unionized and demanded recognition as formal workers. There were also successful campaigns, such as one coming out of Brazil calling for the ban of digital facial recognition technologies in public spaces.

• In Latin America, the hacktivist group Guacamaya, which targeted a variety of Latin American institutions, revealed the persistent use of Pegasus software in the region to spy on activists and journalists.

• In MENA, feminists have been leading the fight in Iran for freedom and democracy, following the government crackdown after the murder of Jina Amini. In addition, the imprisonment of Alaa Abedel Fattah, a software developer and activist, has deeply impacted the MENA digital rights community. They continue to advocate for his release, and there has been a global outpouring of support.