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As COVID-19 spread globally, educators around the world made extraordinary efforts to provide students with access to remote learning during school lockdowns.

India’s ancient caste system made its way into big tech companies in the US, making work conditions difficult for members of lower castes, who fell victim to discrimination.

Independent radio experts created a series of "sound postcards" with digital security and self care advice for community leaders in rural Colombia, who often face serious threats.

The use of machine learning in recent years demonstrated how data and technology creators’ biases can manifest in discrimination and inequality.

One couple’s viral dance videos from China show a refreshing alternative to the usual poverty tropes about rural and marginalized populations, showing creativity, humor, and optimism instead.

Following the massive #EndSARS protests over police brutality, the Nigerian Army launched a disinformation campaign to deny factual reports of violence against protesters.

Taiwan was able to face many COVID-19 challenges by utilizing open sourced technology and online citizen collaboration.

Researchers found three leading causes for Iraq's weak and expensive internet: destruction of parts of its infrastructure by armed groups, conflict among key stakeholders, and government corruption.

Openness Middle East

Amid government imposed limitations in internet access, organization Venezuela Inteligente created friendly videos showing how to avoid censorship and improve people’s digital security.

Openness Europe, US & Canada

The Recording Industry Association of America requested retroactive mass removal of Twitch videos containing copyrighted music, foreshadowing the future under Article 17 of the EU copyright directive.

In a victory for advocates of an open internet, the Economic Community of West African States Community Court of Justice ruled that the 2017 internet shutdowns in Togo were illegal.

The ordeal behind the publication of Egyptian gay activist Sarah Hegazi's profile in Arabic Wikipedia after she died by suicide highlighted the deeply conservative nature of most of its editors.

Digital Inclusion Africa, Middle East

Three telecom operators in Tunisia joined efforts with the Ministry of Higher Education to make access to educational platforms free for students during the pandemic.

US sanctions limited Iranian citizens' access to the internet.

The District Court of the Hague ruled against the Dutch government's use of an automated surveillance program designed to identify people suspected of committing benefit or tax fraud.

In June 2020, the states of Rakhine and Chin in Myanmar marked a full year of internet blackout, making it the third-longest in the world and affecting approximately 1.4 million people.

As Lebanon’s state of emergency expanded following Beirut’s deadly blast, Meedan provided independent media with digital security training and set up a fund to expand their support in Yemen and Syria.

Despite improvements, internet penetration in Zambia stood at only 24% in early 2020.

The “Facing the Ocean Hackathon” network, created by "civic hackers" from Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, quickly shared strategies to face COVID-19 related challenges.

Non-white and low-income children in the US were less likely to have internet access than their white peers, worsening inequalities for online schooling during the pandemic.

Museums and theaters from around the world — from London to Seoul — made art, concerts, and other kinds of cultural expressions available online for people to access during lockdown.

An alarming escalation of online violence against girls and women took place across more than 20 countries, mostly over Facebook, according to Plan International.

Activists and tech workers across the US protested companies that partner with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

After declaring himself uniterested in politics, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg became a powerful political actor in support of strategies many, including FB employees, have found problematic.

Slum2School Africa created a virtual classroom to bridge the education gap for vulnerable children across Nigeria.

An automated test-proctoring company sued a university staff member for expressing concerns about the company’s privacy practices and how they impacted student safety.

Wikimedia helped fight online disinformation through research and the development of tools to identify and block bad faith actors on Wikipedia.

Twitter failed to control Saudi disinformation groups, which spread propaganda, sectarian hate speech, and conspiracy theories about the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Youth-led Twitter-facilitated rallies in Thailand raised hopes for political change.

Internet shutdowns in India demonstrated how harmful government restrictions on internet access are to people's lives and livelihoods, especially in the wake of COVID-19.

Ukrainian election watchdog OPORA used data from Facebook's political ads library to provide transparency around Ukrainian election spending.

Openness Europe

A study led by UN Women revealed that during the pandemic 32% of girls and 47% of teenagers in Chile received sexually charged messages.

During the pandemic, mental health services in India became both more accessible and more socially acceptable.

An ongoing cybercrime scam targeted Zoom users who may have been naked or intimate on camera, threatening them with 'sextortion'.

California's new privacy law, the CCPA, went into effect to protect consumers from businesses committing privacy violations.

Beijing started the implementation of Hong Kong's new National Security Law, giving sweeping power to the police and threatening technology innovation and business.

A New York based DJ and music producer gained widespread popularity hosting online performances that attracted viewers from all over the world and helped ease COVID-19 isolation.

During ICANN68 policy forum, several online sessions were the target of disruption through offensive audio, images, and video, an increasingly common form of online trolling known as “Zoombombing.”

In India, women writers and translators powered a digital platform to preserve the Santali language and open up a space to celebrate its literature.

YouTube disabled community contributions to video subtitling and captions, reducing accessibility and limiting access to creator’s content.

Despite a history of internet shutdowns, Ethiopia's tech start-up community is setting the scene to develop the country's market and push for more innovation.

Facebook temporarily blocked #ACAB, a hashtag used to denounce police brutality in many countries, reducing access to information about protests taking place in Colombia.

Ghana’s National Communications Authority committed to keeping internet access undisrupted during the December election.

Derechos Digitales ran a survey among cyber-feminist organizations in Latin America and found that online gender violence against women rose across the region during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A government agency in Colombia made its own version of open street-design platform Streetmix to create a civic-engagement tool inviting people to redesign multiple streets of the capital city, Bogota.

In India, a report found that Facebook had compromised its policy against hate speech to favor the ruling party.

Producers of Welcome to Chechnya, a documentary about the country's anti-gay purges, used deepfakes to protect interviewees' identities.

People in Togo tweeted that access to WhatsApp, Telegram, and Facebook Messenger had been blocked During Togo’s 2020 elections.

Mindy Seu created the Cyberfeminism Index to honor a multiplicity of feminist technology practices, centering non-Western and non-binary practices in particular.

A Mexican state news agency carried out coordinated actions on social networks to harass and attack journalists and former workers considered "adversaries" of the federal government.

The internet amplified the #EndSARS movement in Nigeria, bringing visibility to people's protests against police brutality.

A majority of the children living in Colombia’s rural areas were excluded from education during the COVID-19 pandemic, as less than 10% have access to computers or the internet.

The African Internet Summit took place online this year, bringing together over 500 delegates for four days for presentations and policy discussions.

Investments in 5G infrastructure that benefit only narrow segments of the population who are already connected were often prioritized over ensuring connectivity for all.

Erick Huerta

With the ‘Cloud 9 ~ Collective Love On Ur Desktop’ initiative, youth communities BUFU & China Residencies organized mutual aid and emergency grants during the pandemic.

Cameroon was found to have one of the slowest internet connections worldwide, according to WebsiteToolTester.

Software developers created spaces in online games for virtual participation in protests in the US and Hong Kong amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

Livestream platform Twitch was forced to delete massive amounts of creator content following thousands of notifications related to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act targeting creators’ archives.

Amid the massive anti-government protests in Peru, people used Tik Tok videos from protests in Chile and Hong Kong to learn diverse protection strategies, such as neutralizing tear gas.

Participants and collaborators of an increasingly large tech community in India pointed at its restrictive sense of digital and gender inclusion, as well other unhealthy organizational practices.

A collective of over 50 artists used online platforms to raise money for relief activities among daily wage laborers, as well as ethnic and religious minorities across Pakistan during the pandemic.

Private internet companies did not always apply their community standards to heads of states sharing misleading information, setting a troubling precedent for the future of the internet.

Open source software site GitHub became a censor-free and safe space to collect and share people’s stories during the early stages of COVID-19 in China.

COVID-19 deepened existing inequalities in regions inhabited by Indigenous communities in Colombia due to limited internet access.

Digital Inclusion Europe, Middle East

Turkey’s constitutional court overturned a government ban on Wikipedia, restoring access to the online encyclopedia.

The Egyptian government used Cybercrime Law to target women using social media, accusing them of bogus crimes like "destroying Egyptian family values" for dancing and singing in the videos.

Activists and community organizers took LGBTQI+ events and Pride celebrations online amid COVID-19 lockdown measures.

Technology companies provided law enforcement agencies with technologies that strengthen their abilities to target, surveil, and arrest immigrants and vulnerable communities without accountability.

The Governments of Mozambique and Rwanda hosted a workshop on digital skills and discussed critical questions regarding challenges and possibilities in their respective countries.

With great regional and household disparities in access to the internet in India, transition to online education due to COVID-19 negatively affected a total of 320 million learners.

The BBC took a step closer to a human values economy and away from the attention economy by investigating what its audiences value, as opposed to what will hold their attention.

The US government launched The Clean Network, a program designed to disconnect Chinese technologies and networks from US telecommunications networks, putting the mesh of internet routing at risk.

The Kaarana community analyzed India's official COVID-19 app for privacy risks. They shared their findings publicly and launched a Telegram group to discuss their concerns about the app.

A study by King's College London researchers found that internet platforms became amplifiers of COVID-19 misinformation on an enormous scale, inhibiting health-protective behavior.

Zoom introduced encryption for all free video calls, responding to public demand and providing more privacy for everyone, not just for those who can afford a premium plan.

The pandemic highlighted and widened the digital divide and lack of access to meaningful connectivity for over half the world's population.

Data for Black Lives compiled COVID-19 infection rates and classified them by race and by state, to demonstrate how COVID-19 disproportionately affects people of color.

Over 1.6 billion (at least 9 out of 10) students around the world were out-of-school because of COVID-19 and almost half of them did not have access to the internet to continue their education online.

Women in Uganda embraced online organizing to denounce their aggressors and help victims of harassment and sexual violence.

Nicaragua passed a cybercrime law that dramatically undermines free speech online. Its ambiguous language leaves wide room for abuse, especially given the government’s high record of human rights abuse.

The Ford, Sloan, Mozilla, and Open Society Foundations are funding research into the maintenance of digital infrastructures, with the goal of supporting a more open and free internet.

India's Supreme Court extended year-old 4G limitations in Kashmir.

In Cameroon, virALLanguages worked with local communities to share videos and audio in Indigenous languages about basic COVID-19 information and prevention.

In Colombia, the regional governments of Bogotá and Antioquia issued COVID-19 alerts using imprecise data that had been collected without people's knowledge.

The Economic Community of West African States Court ruled in favor of protecting freedom of expression, ordaining that access to the internet was a right to be protected under the law.

Google's sister-company Loon used balloons to bring 4G internet access to remote areas of Kenya, bringing much needed access, but worrying experts about a communications monopoly in the country.

A group of developers helped people living in government censored environments use DNS technology to make their online activity more private and secure, protecting them from DNS attacks.

An EU ruling against certain data-sharing with the US highlighted the need for new data-sharing frameworks with some governments to protect EU citizens' rights.

Chicas Poderosas launched the first Spanish-language Massive Open Online Courses of its kind devoted to the development of leadership skills in newsrooms — and media in general — for women.

After the #EndSARS campaign shook Nigeria’s internet and streets with protests against police brutality, some Nigerian politicians started to demand that social media be regulated to silence critics.

Musicians and singers in Egypt took their performances online during the COVID-19 lockdown to entertain and inspire music lovers.

School closures because of COVID-19 in Brazil increased the equity gap between the digital elite and students in more rural and less wealthy areas.

Teen activists flexed their political muscle by using the popular social media platform TikTok to disrupt Trump campaign's data collection efforts.

Thailand's government prepared to sue social media companies over users’ pro-reform posts that they considered critical of the monarchy.

A group of data literacy experts in the Dominican Republic launched "Internet Ambassadors," a program to promote internet health among youth and explain complex issues in an accessible way.

Scholars in South Africa shone light on inequalities in higher education and how they were made even worse by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The government of current OGP Co-Chair South Korea used the internet to widely share publicly accessible information on COVID-19 in a transparent, proactive and timely manner.

A study by the Web Foundation highlighted women’s lack of meaningful connectivity and privacy, among other complex limitations.

In an effort to envision feminist AI frameworks, Coding Rights and partners developed a virtual and physical card game designed to help people imagine and share ideas for alternative technologies.

Another year went on with Egyptian digital activist, renowned blogger and software designer Alaa Abd El Fattah in prison, a clear message from the government to digital and human rights defenders.

The Online Abortion Resource Squad organized a group of volunteers to ensure that every post asking for abortion-related help on Reddit subreddits gets an accurate and compassionate answer.

Digital Inclusion US & Canada, Middle East

Model Bella Hadid’s photo of her father’s US passport listing his birthplace as Palestine was mistakenly deleted from Instagram, whose system flagged it as “hate speech”.

The 2020 International Day for Universal Access to Information raised awareness about the right to information in times of crisis, as well as public access policies beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.

The OONI community found that DNS over TLS, a security protocol protecting users from digital eavesdropping, had been blocked in Iran.

Norway removed its COVID-19 contact tracing app following privacy concerns from its Data Protection Authority. A response that conveys an interest in protecting people's privacy despite the crisis.

Online education efforts in India excluded economically and socially vulnerable students in primary and higher education.

Radio Alhara, one of the few online community radio stations from Palestine, launched a space to connect with listeners in and beyond the region through art, music, and topical discussions.

A government sponsored mass phishing campaign took place in Venezuela, revealing the government's will to expose and target dissidents; and it was not the first time.

As schools closed due to the COVID-19 lockdown in India, the Saksham Resource Centre, a local NGO, helped more than 100 visually impaired students to continue their education online.

The EU argued in favor of digital sovereignty, raising fears about the possible global isolation of its networks in the near future.

Colombian organization Karisma created a crowd-sourced mapping tool to collect regional responses to COVID-19 in order to provide an open data resource for researchers and civil society organizations.

Children’s right to protection and participation were overlooked in Uruguay’s data protection policy agenda.

The Web Foundation supported the first independent assessment of Namibia's digital readiness to support women’s empowerment, shedding light on existing inequalities despite national commitments.

A case study of a retweet by Donald Trump showed how false information, shared for inflammatory purposes, easily found itself in the US president's Twitter feed.

Derechos Digitales created the Rapid Response Fund, providing funding and support to activists and civil society groups in Latin America working on responses to human rights threats in technology.

Decentralization Asia, US & Canada

China’s technology development is intimately tied to the US, something critical to understand when observing internet health globally and that many analysts don’t understand well.

Women organized a hashtag campaign named after femicide victim Ingrid Escamilla to preserve her identity after search algorithms threatened to make leaked images of her murder prominent.

In a visit to his hometown, professor John Walubengo realized the staggering inequalities between urban and rural areas in Kenya in terms of internet access and content language.

India's Telecom Regulatory Authority adopted recommendations including demands put forth by digital rights organizations that push back on measures favored by telecom companies.

The national system in charge of all online public procedures and governmental paperwork was hacked and around 19 gigabytes of Chilean people's data, including passwords and bio IDs, were stolen.

Internet Sans Frontières launched the campaign #MoicamerounaiseDuNet and #DigitalCamerWoman to visibilize Cameroonian women using the internet for entrepreneurship, innovation, and solidarity.

Uber and Lyft spent $200 million USD and used their apps in a campaign to counter a California ballot measure that would have changed the employment classification of drivers.

Following criticism from civil society, the Tunisian government dropped a draft law to combat disinformation that would have been a significant threat to freedom of expression online.

India proposed a data protection law that could downplay privacy through government intervention and jeopardize rights like freedom of speech and sexual autonomy.

With the support of Ushahidi International Foundation, the Iraqi Network for Social Media set a collaborative online map documenting human rights violations in Iraq.

Web Literacy Middle East

Dr. Li Wenliang, the COVID-19 whistleblower, was reprimanded by the Chinese government for alerting people on social media about the virus early on.

The surge in internet demand during the pandemic demonstrated the strength of its design as a highly distributed and reliable system in ways that would be difficult to imagine of other utilities.

Disinformation dominated the online conversation in the US with groups like QAnon spreading conspiracy even among the highest spaces of power while online platforms shied away from intervening.

Two Cambodian universities created a platform and a study program called Media 101, designed to teach media literacy and fight disinformation online.

As COVID-19 forced education to continue online, a lack of language diversity in the academic materials available online contributed to major limitations and digital inequalities.

Intense backlash from people around the world helped put a stop to the sale of the .org domain to a private equity firm, protecting a valuable online space for nonprofits and community-based organizations.

Decentralization Global

Malicious actors believed to come from China targeted social media in Taiwan to spread disinformation —previously called fake news—, particularly during and after the last presidential elections.

The first issue of the online magazine Branch brought together a team of researchers, writers, and designers aiming to start conversations about tech’s footprint, and a more sustainable internet.

With the advance of COVID-19, global internet freedom became increasingly targeted worldwide, making data privacy and openness an afterthought at a time when we probably need them most.

85% of the web pages that were visited in 2020 used HTTPS, leading to better practices that increase people's online privacy, security, and internet health.

Deepfakes are increasingly easy and cheap to create, showed one data scientist who spoofed images and audio of the actor Tom Hanks to make a point.

Zoom committed to releasing its first ever transparency report as part of their commitment to improve privacy measures in response to public criticism.

A Catalan pro-independence politician was the target of “government-grade spyware,” raising concerns about possible government surveillance.

Efforts to expand access to the internet in remote areas of Iran brought fast internet coverage to rural villages.

Protest organizers struggled to access information and use apps like Telegram during the internet shutdown in Belarus.

In a creative response to intimidation from Zambian authorities, young activists staged a protest in the relative safety of a secret location. They livestreamed it and created a civic space online.

The Lebanese government implemented internet shutdowns in response to anti-government protests. As a result, media coverage of the protests was restricted and protestors struggled to coordinate aid.

Brazilian researchers and communicators created the National Network to Fight Disinformation (RNCD), gathering and sharing data that help the public navigate fake news during COVID-19.

Research NGO EU DisinfoLab found that COVID-19 disinformation in Europe evolved with the spread of the virus and adapted its narratives to fit specific cultural and social contexts.

Facebook removed over 100 fake accounts used by police and military units to spread hate and incite violence against activists and critics in the Philippines.

A bill targeting the spread of disinformation on WhatsApp threatened Brazilian users' privacy and security.

The digital rights conference Bread&Net 2020 took place online and concentrated on connecting marginalized voices from the MENA region to global conversations about digital rights.

A Survation opinion poll by the Open Knowledge Foundation found that 51% of people surveyed in the UK reported receiving content on social media about COVID-19 they believed to be misinformation.

Online platform Azerbaijan Internet Watch reported on multiple cases of internet censorship and digital attacks in Azerbaijan, helping people understand the ways in which government can silence dissent.

The Indian government’s decision to block 59 Chinese apps raised questions about internet freedom and whether it is being sacrificed in the name of national security.

AskHistorians, a Reddit-based community hosted a crowdsourced, free, and fully open academic history conference online, likely to have been the first of its kind.

Many governments view digital ID chips as an important way to improve digital governance. However, often the privacy and security risks are overlooked. The same happened in Taiwan.

In Egypt, student Nadeen Ashraf exposed cases of sexual violence through Instagram, gaining over 70,000 followers within days and igniting an online movement fighting violence against women

Thailand’s digital minister threatened Facebook with legal action for not complying with government requests to restrict content deemed illegal or perceived as insulting to the monarchy.

The community behind the Internet Freedom Festival opened safe and empathetic spaces for people around the world to learn, discuss, and develop projects devoted to digital security and internet health.

When infection rates began to soar, Brazil’s health ministry deleted its official COVID-19 statistics. Days later it reposted the site without any data about how many people had already been infected and/or killed.

Aiming to provide reliable information about COVID-19 in South Africa, two University of Cape Town alumni built an online platform for sharing information about the disease and its development.

A teacher climbed a mountain to get strong enough WIFI to be able to enroll students, reflecting the extent to which education in the Philippines is lacking sufficient technical resources during the COVID-19 pandemic.

German authorities raided FinFisher, a spyware company alleged to have sold surveillance tools to Turkey illegally.

Anti-abortion groups in the United States took advantage of the misinformation crisis triggered by COVID-19 to spread false information about abortion and abortion-rights activists.

Governments and health organizations worldwide shared data to contribute to global strategies against COVID-19, highlighting how open data can be a critical resource to limit the spread of the virus.

A local militia group in the United States posted a call on Facebook to "take up arms and defend our city [...] from evil thugs" amid Black Lives Matter protests.

Kerala became the first state in India to provide hi-tech classrooms in all government run or supported schools, achieving a wide digitization of schools.

Ethnic violence was "supercharged" by hate speech and incitements shared widely on Facebook after the assassination of a popular singer in Ethiopia.

The Council of Europe's Political Affairs Committee urged the Council to create a legally binding instrument for the democratic governance of AI.

A high profile case of non-consensual sexual image distribution online in Namibia showed the need for legislation to protect women from this form of violence.

The UN released a Roadmap for Digital Cooperation with goals and strategies to advance a safer, more equitable digital world.

Privacy and Security US & Canada, Middle East

During a visit to his family in Iran, authorities arrested and tortured a well known US-based software engineer while downloading 15 years worth of his digital history to force him to become an informant.

In 2020, the national Dutch public broadcasting organization NPO switched from targeted ads to contextual ones.

Facebook and Instagram incorrectly flagged posts about killings in Nigeria during the #EndSARS protests as “fake news.”

The Panama chapter of the Internet Society created an educational program that launched a discussion around the history of the internet in Panama, its public policy, and its digital rights status.

Rape and death threats against a cricket team captain's wife and five year old daughter flooded social media in India after his team lost a match.

American community builder Naj Austin launched a new platform and one-stop-shop devoted to creating safe online spaces for people of color to connect and create.

Stanford Medical Center relied on an algorithm to determine who would be first in line to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. The algorithm excluded front line medical staff.

A research team from various universities and institutions in the US is openly sharing a tool that could help recognize and identify political social media influence operations.

The 2020 DARE Index reported that the implementation of digital accessibility in the 26 countries studied remained low: 42% have no policy, while 20% are at a minimum level of implementation.

ISOC Benin organized an event to celebrate women working with digital technologies and invited anyone to join the community regardless of education level.

Social media attacks on Indian actress Rhea Chakraborty after the suicide of her actor boyfriend Sighn Rajput were a stark reminder of gender based harassment and disparities online.

Open source mapping project Frena la Curva was created to coordinate efforts and strategies among volunteers and organizations to help those in need during the COVID-19 crisis in Spain.

Because of COVID-19, disparities in online education negatively impacted students who did not have access to technology.

Political analyst Nanjala Nyabola shed light on the impact of social media on Kenyan politics — including the government's use of Cambridge Analytica in Kenya's 2017 election.

A journalist went through a harassment campaign after a national media outlet published a note in their sports section about her comments on social media criticizing a football team.

Colectiva por la Libre Información para las Mujeres

A group of researchers and educators from Egypt, Kenya, Australia, and the US joined forces to make online community-building resources available to educators around the world.

A massive data leak led to the sale of Ukrainian citizens' private information over Telegram.

In Uruguay, NGO Rights of the Child Committee, hosted webinars on cyberactivism to engage youth in the use of social media and to encourage them to voice their opinions in matters that affect them.

A data scientist was fired from the Florida Department of Health for refusing to manipulate online COVID-19 data, which could lead to the premature reopening of counties.

Uganda's Communication Commission launched free hotspots to provide broadband services at five borders, providing connectivity in transit areas and facilitating business during COVID-19.

In Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Tanzania, the government used copyright claims under the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act as a gag for journalists, activists, and civil society organizations.

Nigerian youth organized an online fundraising campaign to support local protesters, their data needs, and support services like emergency medical care, legal counsel, and security.

Advertisers returned to Facebook based on its commitment to improve users' safety, but there was no evidence that Facebook had taken any meaningful action.

iWatch Africa, a nonprofit organization from Ghana made plans to use artificial intelligence to fight online violence and harassment against journalists and rights activists.

Repressive regimes used digital tools to target, censor, and harass their opponents beyond their national borders.

Global tech organization Meedan presented a study and content moderation toolkit for civil society organizations and platforms seeking to find a common vocabulary and methodology.

Web Literacy Global

Indonesia saw a rise in politically motivated online violence against women in many forms, including device hacks to spread disinformation and/or the sharing of sexual images.

Events organized by local activists, like Civic Square’s Re_ Festival, moved online and made a positive, global impact by helping us imagine better futures.

The Cambodian government proposed the creation of a national internet gateway to control online traffic, drawing concerns over its potential to block free access to information.

Mozilla's Tamil Nadu community in India, with members from both rural and urban areas, contributed to various Open Source and Open Knowledge projects, like webinars adapted to their regional contexts.

Benin’s High Audiovisual and Communication Authority ordered the cessation of all online media publication ahead of elections in 2021.

Showing the power of collective action, students used a popular internet forum to host discussions with a death row prisoner believed to be innocent, gaining support for a petition to release him.

Japanese reality TV star Hana Kimura died by suicide after sustained and severe online abuse due to the way her character was presented as a villain.

In a legal win for internet rights defenders, judges of the Jakarta State Administrative Court ruled that the deliberate internet shutdowns of 2019 in Papua and West Papua were illegal.

The Taiwanese government planned to enforce its citizens’ use of the national ID chip (eID) despite major privacy concerns.

As part of the Milk Tea Alliance movement, pro-democracy protesters in Thailand received support online from activists from Hong Kong and Taiwan and learned protection tactics from online videos.

As the pandemic forced millions of students to take tests online, some proctoring algorithmic systems ended up reinforcing racial discrimination and privacy violations.

The online campaign #VigilanciaFeminista exposed the failures of Peru’s COVID-19 strategy, which was hindering women and non-binary individuals from accessing sexual and reproductive healthcare.

Colectiva por la Libre Información para las Mujeres

The Indonesian military, in partnership with civilian volunteers, published pro-government propaganda under the guise of independent news.

Youth-led Ghana Internet Governance Forum successfully took their event online for 2020 and gathered over 30 policy experts and 110 participants.

A government imposed internet shutdown in northern Ethiopia made it difficult for journalists to do their work, making the spread of misinformation more likely.

Meedan, a global tech organization, set up a project to mobilize Latin American activists around the risks related to having their history and memory in the hands of corporate social media platforms.

Zoombombing, a phenomenon in which intruders hijack video calls and post hate speech and offensive images, became a common occurrence in 2020. So common and worrying that the FBI issued a warning.

Datos Protegidos in Chile organized #FemHackParty 2020 online, gathering cyber-feminist organizations through conversations and workshops on issues including self-care and digital security.

A renowned Colombian magazine downgraded in quality after changing strategies to prioritize online ‘clicks’ over the investigative journalism it was known for.

The Community Leaders for Internet Health Program provided training and mentorship on open leadership and internet health for eight young people from underrepresented groups across Sub-Saharan Africa.

The Ethiopian government shut down the internet for two weeks following protests demanding justice for the killing of Oromo musician, Haacaaluu Hundeessaa.

Article 19 made a series of culturally-adapted videos with trustworthy information about COVID-19 in some of the local languages of Mexico’s provinces of Chiapas and Yucatán.

With high numbers of people lacking proper access to the internet in low income countries and communities, COVID-19 demonstrated how much the internet should, but is not, a universal right for all.

The Youth Ki Awaaz community mentored thousands of writers in effective online action for offline causes like women’s health and caste discrimination.

Documents from US federal agencies showed they have explored, if not actively deployed, hacking tools in criminal investigations, raising major questions regarding oversight and privacy.

A group of women in Guatemala created an online space devoted to the inclusion of women with disabilities through different projects, including a podcast and a webcomic about good online practices.

Despite concerns over privacy and discrimination, India made mandatory the use of a COVID-19 smartphone app for travel by train and airplane.

The Colombian Institute of Internet and Society supported Indigenous Wayuu communities in delivering COVID-19 related information in both Spanish and Wayuunaiki using different online channels.

The US government considered banning WeChat and TikTok, a move its critics considered a step toward technonationalism.

Three Finnish universities teamed up with a public broadcaster and government agency to compile dialects from around the country to develop technology that understands variances in tone and dialect.

"Draconian" regulation of social media content by the Pakistani government shook and worried service providers and digital rights activists alike.

Feminist organization Amaranta led a study around sexist violence online in Chile that included trans and non binary women and shed light on an otherwise invisibilized problem in the country.

A study by the Web Foundation and UN Women found complex and important gender inequalities in access to digital tools and the internet when taking rural areas and language into account.

COVID-19 functioned like a catalyst for the adoption of new technologies and innovations in India as many workers had to adapt their activities to an online setting.

With educators lacking digital literacy to teach online, and students deprived of access to the internet, the pandemic translated into a difficult challenge for education in the Dominican Republic.

US representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez live-streamed the popular online game ‘Among Us’ to encourage young Americans to vote in US elections.

Digital learning in Uganda left many school children out.

In the last four years, Benin has doubled its internet connectivity rate.

Over 200,000 students in Panama were excluded from public education when the pandemic forced schools to go online.

To fight the feeling of despair caused by state executions, Iranians created #stopexecutions to protest the regime's killings.

Deeptrace found that 96% of nonconsensual deepfake videos online were of a pornographic nature despite them often being portrayed as a political threat.

A coalition of strategic partners from 77 countries brought their citizens together to discuss the future of internet health.

The viral nature of online media combined with COVID-19 fears “primed” Americans to believe online misinformation about the US 2020 presidential election.

Artist Mo Willems did a weekly doodle series for children, creating a virtual space to support them and their families in the difficult context of the pandemic.

On election day in Burundi, the internet was shut down for 36 hours. The shutdown also had a negative impact on the country's economy.

Decentralization US & Canada, Latin America

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Uffa

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Huerta

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Catherine

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Zhuparris

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Prudence

Hamzoz

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Anthonio

Don

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Chris

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Jacinta

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Tarakiyee

An Xiao

Mina

Lou

Huang

Joey

Ayoub

Bhuvana

Meenakshi

Chad

Sansing

Isabella

Barroso

Ivan

Paganotti

Bukola

Oronti

Javier

Pallero

Danny

Rayman

Kiran

Jonnalagadda

Diana

Figueroa

Ian

Forrester

Evelyn

Bisona

Raashi

Saxena

Julia

Schneider

Marianne

Diaz

Karen Denisse

Vergara Sánchez

Julio

Gaitán

Kuan-Ju

Chou

Kira

Simon Kennedy

Lulu

Catherine

Muya

Oarabile

Mudongo

Porntep

Kamonpetch

Ortiz

Shmyla

Khan

Kate

Bertash

Maina

Tudu

West Papua

Updates

Yubo

Kou

Lily

Edinam Botsyoe

Manisha

Pathak Shelat

Eeva

Moore

Maria

Xynou

Sam

Robbins

Mikhail

Klimarev

Martha

Tudón

Christy

Alves Nascimento

Micaela

Mantegna

Karim

Mohamed

ElGohary

Mohsen

Emadi

Maha

Bali

Niels

ten Oever

Nirmita

Narasimhan

Nnenna

Nwakanma

Norman

Angel

Paul

Keller

Omar

Rincón

Piper

Haywood

Pranshu

Khanna

Raisa

Urribarri

Sadik

Shahadu

Sally

Farag Abdel Aziz

Sammy

Fung

Carolina

Botero

Santhosh

Thottingal

Sarah

Drinkwater

Sek

Sophal

Shreyas Narayanan

Kutty

Meri

Baghdasaryan

Taibat

Hussain

Soledad

Magnone

Tatiana

Houndjo

Tetyana

Bohdanova

Varoon

Bashyakarla

Veronica

Stefan

Yohannes

Eneyew

Amir

Sarabadani

Elizabeth

Rivera

Matt

Germonprez

Yosr

Jouini

Federica

Tortorella

Gabriela

Masfarre Pinto

Bendjedid Rachad

Sanoussi

Zack

Lee

Laura

Vidal

Avit

Ndayiziga

Beatriz

Botero

Laura

Czerniewicz

Nashilongo

Gervasius

Colectiva por la Libre Información

para las Mujeres

Dan

Ger

Denisse Alejandra

Albornoz

Natalie

Pang

Sarah

Gilbert

Jamie

Kosoy

Audrey

Tang

We need to turn the “internet of things” into the internet of beings.

Audrey Tang

Asia

Uffa

Modey

Content on the internet should be verified to curb the spread of misinformation that risk sparking public outrage and lead to violence.

Uffa Modey

Africa

Gaspar

Pisanu

We need more transparency from companies about their content moderation policies, as well as about practices that affect user privacy.

Gaspar Pisanu

Latin America

Payal

Arora

A healthier internet is a feminist internet.

Payal Arora

Asia, Europe

Joana

Varon

We need to foster alternative software based on human rights.

Joana Varon

Latin America

Erick

Huerta

Decentralization helps restore the diversity and originality of the early internet.

Erick Huerta

Latin America

Charlene

Prempeh

We should all be investigating ways in which the internet can support healthier ecosystems for the Black financial and creative economy.

Charlene Prempeh

Europe

Mehwish

Ansari

Communities should be provided with regulatory and technical support so that they can build their own networks.

Mehwish Ansari

Europe

Cristobal

Cobo

Policies and initiatives where education and technology intersect should embrace a set of principles to maximize human engagement.

Cristobal Cobo

US & Canada, Latin America

Maria Juliana

Soto

The only way to make the internet healthier is for people to know how it works.

Maria Juliana Soto

Latin America

Catherine

Stihler

The right to access information is always vital, but even more so during a health emergency.

Catherine Stihler

Europe

Wafaa

Heikal

We need to look into how the internet is being misused to threaten women and non-binary people around the world.

Wafaa Heikal

Europe, Middle East

Divij

Joshi

We need to start listening to the democratic claims of affected people instead of technocratic claims of bureaucrats and businesses.

Divij Joshi

Asia

Ahnjili

Zhuparris

We should take action against people who produce non-consensual deepfakes.

Ahnjili Zhuparris

Asia, Europe

Nyamishana

Prudence

We should make the internet more accessible and affordable.

Nyamishana Prudence

Africa

Hamzoz

Not only should the internet be more accessible to everyone, it should be decentralized and free of government control to avoid shutdowns.

Hamzoz

Middle East

Felicia

Anthonio

We must work together to raise awareness about the devastating impact of internet shutdowns on human rights and people's lives.

Felicia Anthonio

Africa

Don

Marti

We need to learn about privacy laws that apply to us.

Don Marti

US & Canada

Chris

Chan

We need a world where access to information — and control of our own representation in digital databases — is free.

Chris Chan

US & Canada

Jacinta

González

We must always be honest about the real human impacts of technology and the ways it is being used to facilitate human rights violations.

Jacinta González

US & Canada, Latin America

Emmanuel C.

Ogu

We need tools and technologies to help bridge the language barriers and enhance digital inclusion.

Emmanuel C. Ogu

Africa

Majd

Al-Shihabi

We need decentralized tools for documentation, archiving, and sharing that are community owned and governed.

Majd Al-Shihabi

US & Canada, Middle East

Subhashish

Panigrahi

Access to critical information in native languages in inclusive and accessible mediums is one of the most urgent steps to take.

Subhashish Panigrahi

Asia

Layla

Taha

Content moderation should be localized, contextual, and user-driven.

Layla Taha

Middle East

Kasia

Odrozek

We need to keep reminding ourselves that there are no magical powers running the internet.

Kasia Odrozek

Europe

Ahmed

Razek

Creating a healthy internet will not be a short-term endeavor.

Ahmed Razek

Europe

Esther

Mwema

The open source nature of the web needs to be defended for a healthy internet to be possible as a public utility.

Esther Mwema

Africa

Darika

Bamrungchok

Independent experts, including civil society organizations and human rights experts should conduct audits of social media platforms.

Darika Bamrungchok

Asia

Tonusree

Basu

We need to make access to the internet a public good, available to all sections of the population.

Tonusree Basu

Asia

Mong

Palatino

We should broaden the concept of access to include affordability, a safe use of the internet, and media literacy.

Mong Palatino

Asia

Andrés

Azpúrua

The internet would be healthier if internet protocols designed to protect users and respect human rights became the standard.

Andrés Azpúrua

Latin America

Tara

Tarakiyee

It all hinges on governments upholding their obligations to human rights both online and offline.

Tara Tarakiyee

Europe, Middle East

An Xiao

Mina

We need a new vision for global cooperation that centers on the most marginalized.

An Xiao Mina

US & Canada

Lou

Huang

We can't talk about internet health without talking about wealth inequality.

Lou Huang

US & Canada

Joey

Ayoub

There is a way to create a better internet, one that does not rely on manipulation.

Joey Ayoub

Europe, Middle East

Bhuvana

Meenakshi

I would define a healthier internet as a space that is accessible, inclusive, and full of possibilities to explore and reinvent technology.

Bhuvana Meenakshi

Asia

Chad

Sansing

Big tech and policy makers can’t adequately anticipate or address problems they don’t have.

Chad Sansing

US & Canada

Isabella

Barroso

There is no such thing as a neutral technology.

Isabella Barroso

Latin America

Ivan

Paganotti

Internet connection (and media literacy) should be guaranteed as a universal right.

Ivan Paganotti

Latin America

Bukola

Oronti

It is very important for people to be educated on the safe use of the internet to avoid falling victim to cyber criminals.

Bukola Oronti

Africa

Javier

Pallero

We need to work on the online and the offline dimension of democracy at the same time. ...

Javier Pallero

Latin America

Danny

Rayman

The internet can only be a healthier space if we care for the safety of our data.

Danny Rayman

Latin America

Kiran

Jonnalagadda

More individuals and communities need to be vocal about privacy, digital rights, and freedoms.

Kiran Jonnalagadda

Asia

Diana

Figueroa

A healthier internet starts with people being more knowledgeable of big data and many of the invisible complexities in today's internet.

Diana Figueroa

Latin America

Ian

Forrester

We need to build the alternatives, encourage good practices, and set clear goals for a healthier internet.

Ian Forrester

Europe

Evelyn

Bisona

The internet should be safe, friendly, and respect privacy.

Evelyn Bisona

Africa

Raashi

Saxena

We must expand general digital literacy to make it available to the widest number of people possible.

Raashi Saxena

Asia

Julia

Schneider

We must negotiate how best to walk the fine line between freedom and control.

Julia Schneider

Europe

Marianne

Diaz

We need to make internet companies accountable to higher transparency standards.

Marianne Diaz

Latin America

Karen Denisse

Vergara Sánchez

We need to consider digital education specifically focused on women and sexual dissidents.

Karen Denisse Vergara Sánchez

Latin America

Julio

Gaitán

We should seek accurate information and learn from vulnerable communities.

Julio Gaitán

Latin America

Kuan-Ju

Chou

We need a more complex discussion on risks and potential harm of the internet.

Kuan-Ju Chou

Asia

Kira

Simon Kennedy

We need to rapidly educate as many people as possible on digital security basics.

Kira Simon Kennedy

Asia, US & Canada

Lulu

We need to truly understand what the “internet” is.

Lulu

Asia

Catherine

Muya

We need stronger regulation on the use of AI and algorithms, as well as stronger content moderation in the Global South.

Catherine Muya

Africa

Oarabile

Mudongo

Now is the time to start talking about the biggest social media platforms and to demand them to stop spreading viral disinformation.

Oarabile Mudongo

Africa

Porntep

Kamonpetch

We need to protect our privacy and keep it away from government authorities.

Porntep Kamonpetch

Asia

Ortiz

We need to bring back to center stage the ways our internet communities connect, interact, support, and collaborate.

Lu Ortiz

Latin America

Shmyla

Khan

We need to fundamentally reframe how we control the internet's infrastructure.

Shmyla Khan

Asia

Kate

Bertash

Amazing things happen when we use our power to be good stewards of the online spaces we're in.

Kate Bertash

US & Canada

Maina

Tudu

Search engines need to give more relevant results to save our valuable time.

Maina Tudu

Asia

West Papua

Updates

We need to reexamine the possibilities of what can be done with the data being collected about every internet user's experience.

West Papua Updates

Asia

Yubo

Kou

We need a transnational information infrastructure that is safe and open.

Yubo Kou

Asia

Lily

Edinam Botsyoe

Once there is knowledge about what is not helping, there will be collective efforts devoted to change it.

Lily Edinam Botsyoe

Africa

Manisha

Pathak Shelat

We need to recognize the significance of media and information literacy and redesign it so it becomes a mandatory subject.

Manisha Pathak Shelat

Asia

Eeva

Moore

We have to bust the myth that tech is neutral or benign.

Eeva Moore

Europe, US & Canada

Maria

Xynou

To understand the health of the internet, we need to investigate what is wrong in order to make it better, especially in terms of censorship.

Maria Xynou

Europe

Sam

Robbins

We need to think of ourselves as internet communities, not simply massive aggregates of random people.

Sam Robbins

Asia, Europe

Mikhail

Klimarev

There should be no censorship or prohibitions on the internet.

Mikhail Klimarev

Europe

Martha

Tudón

We should take inspiration from the demands for justice taking place through digital protests.

Martha Tudón

Latin America

Christy

Alves Nascimento

The internet needs to be a place where our bodily autonomy can be honoured.

Christy Alves Nascimento

Africa

Micaela

Mantegna

We need to monitor IP law reform processes globally to strive for a healthy balance between copyright regulation and access to culture.

Micaela Mantegna

Latin America

Karim

We need connected efforts coming from all corners of the internet health community.

Karim

Middle East

Mohamed

ElGohary

We need to reach out to less privileged activists and communities, aiming to be community coordinators, not gatekeepers.

Mohamed ElGohary

Middle East

Mohsen

Emadi

We need to make an effort to hand over power to the people instead of helping states control the voiceless masses.

Mohsen Emadi

Latin America, Middle East

Maha

Bali

We need to build flexible open communities and create safe spaces that center on social justice where people can find support.

Maha Bali

Africa, Middle East

Niels

ten Oever

Human rights considerations, as well as the societal impact of technology, should be a structural consideration in the developments.

Niels ten Oever

Europe

Nirmita

Narasimhan

We cannot have digital inclusion without accessibility.

Nirmita Narasimhan

Asia

Nnenna

Nwakanma

We need a global consensus, inspired by initiatives like the "Contract for the Web"

Nnenna Nwakanma

Africa, US & Canada

Norman

Angel

A healthy internet is safe and private.

Norman Angel

Africa

Paul

Keller

We need to burst the targeted advertising bubble.

Paul Keller

Europe

Omar

Rincón

We need to radically change our digital routines, creating more and consuming less, bre...

Omar Rincón

Latin America

Piper

Haywood

We need to shift the balance of power away from big tech.

Piper Haywood

US & Canada

Pranshu

Khanna

The needs of the hour are AI literacy and privacy.

Pranshu Khanna

Asia

Raisa

Urribarri

We need to improve connection with meaning.

Raisa Urribarri

Latin America

Sadik

Shahadu

We need legislation that can protect online users of tech platforms and hold the platforms accountable.

Sadik Shahadu

Africa

Sally

Farag Abdel Aziz

Social media should provide safe and secure spaces for everyone to voice their opinion without facing harassment or censorship.

Sally Farag Abdel Aziz

Middle East

Sammy

Fung

The open technology community should propose a Declaration, Protocol, and International Covenant on Digital Freedom.

Sammy Fung

Asia

Carolina

Botero

We need to increase the use of the internet as a democratic tool.

Carolina Botero

Latin America

Santhosh

Thottingal

A healthy internet is inclusive and accessible to everybody.

Santhosh Thottingal

Asia

Sarah

Drinkwater

We need deeper investment in both the internet for all and digital public infrastructure.

Sarah Drinkwater

US & Canada

Sek

Sophal

We need to promote Media and Information Literacy (MIL) skills as a critically important part of education.

Sek Sophal

Asia

Shreyas Narayanan

Kutty

We need to help people move from being consumers on the web to creators.

Shreyas Narayanan Kutty

Asia

Meri

Baghdasaryan

We need to push for more digital literacy and help people be aware of cyber hygiene, as well as enhanced privacy and data protection mechanisms.

Meri Baghdasaryan

Europe, US & Canada

Taibat

Hussain

We need to make the internet accessible for everyone, while putting in place regulations to curb misinformation and online violence.

Taibat Hussain

Africa, Europe

Soledad

Magnone

It is especially important to empower children by making meaningful efforts to include their diverse voices in digital policy-making.

Soledad Magnone

Latin America

Tatiana

Houndjo

A healthy internet requires healthy internet habits.

Tatiana Houndjo

Africa

Tetyana

Bohdanova

Platforms should align their approach to digital political advertising.

Tetyana Bohdanova

Europe

Varoon

Bashyakarla

We need to make sure everyone — not just the privileged — can manage their online identities exactly how they want for privacy and security.

Varoon Bashyakarla

Europe

Veronica

Stefan

We need to create and empower digital citizens to address challenges at the local level with access, education, and transparency.

Veronica Stefan

Europe

Yohannes

Eneyew

The internet and the social media networks that operate within it must be regulated so that human rights are respected.

Yohannes Eneyew

Africa

Amir

Sarabadani

People say fighting disinformation is extremely hard, but I disagree.

Amir Sarabadani

Europe, Middle East

Elizabeth

Rivera

We need to stop putting our faith in companies to do the right thing.

Elizabeth Rivera

US & Canada, Latin America

Matt

Germonprez

Without transparency, we lack a clear understanding of what signals help characterize different parts of the internet as healthy.

Matt Germonprez

US & Canada

Yosr

Jouini

Social media platforms need to give further consideration and response to requests from countries outside of the Global North.

Yosr Jouini

Africa, Middle East

Federica

Tortorella

More effort needs to be done to include minorities and vulnerable groups in the ecosystem.

Federica Tortorella

Latin America

Gabriela

Masfarre Pinto

We need to increase diversity in creative ways to make the internet more inclusive to underrepresented groups.

Gabriela Masfarre Pinto

Europe

Bendjedid Rachad

Sanoussi

The defense of internet health must be a daily task.

Bendjedid Rachad Sanoussi

Africa

Zack

Lee

We need to have a greater conversation around the ownership and diversity of internet services.

Zack Lee

Asia

Laura

Vidal

We need to find the ways in which both current and new creators of digital spaces around the world can open their cultural horizons.

Laura Vidal

Europe, Latin America

Avit

Ndayiziga

We need to increase people's digital literacy in order to make them less vulnerable.

Avit Ndayiziga

Africa

Beatriz

Botero

Companies and other large actors should have privacy policies in place that create more transnational trust.

Beatriz Botero

US & Canada

Laura

Czerniewicz

We need collaboration, connection, and community.

Laura Czerniewicz

Africa

Nashilongo

Gervasius

We need to ensure that the internet is affordable and accessible for all.

Nashilongo Gervasius

Africa

Colectiva por la Libre Información

para las Mujeres

We need to focus on social media algorithms and how they can create an environment where gender violence is always present.

Colectiva por la Libre Información para las Mujeres

Latin America

Dan

Ger

People should be aware of VPNs and the benefits of using a trustworthy VPN.

Dan Ger

Africa

Denisse Alejandra

Albornoz

We need stronger and more secure activism to ensure the internet remains representative of all voices, bodies, and identities.

Denisse Alejandra Albornoz

Latin America

Natalie

Pang

We need to shift the discourse and the power towards a multi-stakeholder approach to data governance.

Natalie Pang

Asia

Sarah

Gilbert

Platforms need to do better when it comes to content moderation.

Sarah Gilbert

US & Canada

Jamie

Kosoy

We need to go back to basics on the idea of digital literacy.

Jamie Kosoy

US & Canada

In response to COVID-19 restrictions, several communities in many countries of the Americas created their own networks to access the internet.

Erick Huerta

The governments of Algeria and Sudan shut down the internet during student exams to prevent cheating, effectively blocking everyone else’s access to information, also.

Privacy and Security Africa, Middle East

As COVID-19 spread globally, educators around the world made extraordinary efforts to provide students with access to remote learning during school lockdowns.

India’s ancient caste system made its way into big tech companies in the US, making work conditions difficult for members of lower castes, who fell victim to discrimination.

Independent radio experts created a series of "sound postcards" with digital security and self care advice for community leaders in rural Colombia, who often face serious threats.

The use of machine learning in recent years demonstrated how data and technology creators’ biases can manifest in discrimination and inequality.

One couple’s viral dance videos from China show a refreshing alternative to the usual poverty tropes about rural and marginalized populations, showing creativity, humor, and optimism instead.

Following the massive #EndSARS protests over police brutality, the Nigerian Army launched a disinformation campaign to deny factual reports of violence against protesters.

Taiwan was able to face many COVID-19 challenges by utilizing open sourced technology and online citizen collaboration.

Researchers found three leading causes for Iraq's weak and expensive internet: destruction of parts of its infrastructure by armed groups, conflict among key stakeholders, and government corruption.

Openness Middle East

Amid government imposed limitations in internet access, organization Venezuela Inteligente created friendly videos showing how to avoid censorship and improve people’s digital security.

Openness Europe, US & Canada

In a victory for advocates of an open internet, the Economic Community of West African States Community Court of Justice ruled that the 2017 internet shutdowns in Togo were illegal.

The ordeal behind the publication of Egyptian gay activist Sarah Hegazi's profile in Arabic Wikipedia after she died by suicide highlighted the deeply conservative nature of most of its editors.

Digital Inclusion Africa, Middle East

Three telecom operators in Tunisia joined efforts with the Ministry of Higher Education to make access to educational platforms free for students during the pandemic.

US sanctions limited Iranian citizens' access to the internet.

The District Court of the Hague ruled against the Dutch government's use of an automated surveillance program designed to identify people suspected of committing benefit or tax fraud.

In June 2020, the states of Rakhine and Chin in Myanmar marked a full year of internet blackout, making it the third-longest in the world and affecting approximately 1.4 million people.

Despite improvements, internet penetration in Zambia stood at only 24% in early 2020.

The “Facing the Ocean Hackathon” network, created by "civic hackers" from Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, quickly shared strategies to face COVID-19 related challenges.

Non-white and low-income children in the US were less likely to have internet access than their white peers, worsening inequalities for online schooling during the pandemic.

Museums and theaters from around the world — from London to Seoul — made art, concerts, and other kinds of cultural expressions available online for people to access during lockdown.

An alarming escalation of online violence against girls and women took place across more than 20 countries, mostly over Facebook, according to Plan International.

Activists and tech workers across the US protested companies that partner with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

After declaring himself uniterested in politics, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg became a powerful political actor in support of strategies many, including FB employees, have found problematic.

Slum2School Africa created a virtual classroom to bridge the education gap for vulnerable children across Nigeria.

An automated test-proctoring company sued a university staff member for expressing concerns about the company’s privacy practices and how they impacted student safety.

Wikimedia helped fight online disinformation through research and the development of tools to identify and block bad faith actors on Wikipedia.

Twitter failed to control Saudi disinformation groups, which spread propaganda, sectarian hate speech, and conspiracy theories about the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Youth-led Twitter-facilitated rallies in Thailand raised hopes for political change.

Internet shutdowns in India demonstrated how harmful government restrictions on internet access are to people's lives and livelihoods, especially in the wake of COVID-19.

Ukrainian election watchdog OPORA used data from Facebook's political ads library to provide transparency around Ukrainian election spending.

Openness Europe

A study led by UN Women revealed that during the pandemic 32% of girls and 47% of teenagers in Chile received sexually charged messages.

During the pandemic, mental health services in India became both more accessible and more socially acceptable.

An ongoing cybercrime scam targeted Zoom users who may have been naked or intimate on camera, threatening them with 'sextortion'.

California's new privacy law, the CCPA, went into effect to protect consumers from businesses committing privacy violations.

Beijing started the implementation of Hong Kong's new National Security Law, giving sweeping power to the police and threatening technology innovation and business.

A New York based DJ and music producer gained widespread popularity hosting online performances that attracted viewers from all over the world and helped ease COVID-19 isolation.

In India, women writers and translators powered a digital platform to preserve the Santali language and open up a space to celebrate its literature.

YouTube disabled community contributions to video subtitling and captions, reducing accessibility and limiting access to creator’s content.

Despite a history of internet shutdowns, Ethiopia's tech start-up community is setting the scene to develop the country's market and push for more innovation.

Facebook temporarily blocked #ACAB, a hashtag used to denounce police brutality in many countries, reducing access to information about protests taking place in Colombia.

Ghana’s National Communications Authority committed to keeping internet access undisrupted during the December election.

Derechos Digitales ran a survey among cyber-feminist organizations in Latin America and found that online gender violence against women rose across the region during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In India, a report found that Facebook had compromised its policy against hate speech to favor the ruling party.

Producers of Welcome to Chechnya, a documentary about the country's anti-gay purges, used deepfakes to protect interviewees' identities.

People in Togo tweeted that access to WhatsApp, Telegram, and Facebook Messenger had been blocked During Togo’s 2020 elections.

Mindy Seu created the Cyberfeminism Index to honor a multiplicity of feminist technology practices, centering non-Western and non-binary practices in particular.

A Mexican state news agency carried out coordinated actions on social networks to harass and attack journalists and former workers considered "adversaries" of the federal government.

The internet amplified the #EndSARS movement in Nigeria, bringing visibility to people's protests against police brutality.

A majority of the children living in Colombia’s rural areas were excluded from education during the COVID-19 pandemic, as less than 10% have access to computers or the internet.

The African Internet Summit took place online this year, bringing together over 500 delegates for four days for presentations and policy discussions.

Investments in 5G infrastructure that benefit only narrow segments of the population who are already connected were often prioritized over ensuring connectivity for all.

Erick Huerta

With the ‘Cloud 9 ~ Collective Love On Ur Desktop’ initiative, youth communities BUFU & China Residencies organized mutual aid and emergency grants during the pandemic.

Cameroon was found to have one of the slowest internet connections worldwide, according to WebsiteToolTester.

Software developers created spaces in online games for virtual participation in protests in the US and Hong Kong amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

Livestream platform Twitch was forced to delete massive amounts of creator content following thousands of notifications related to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act targeting creators’ archives.

Amid the massive anti-government protests in Peru, people used Tik Tok videos from protests in Chile and Hong Kong to learn diverse protection strategies, such as neutralizing tear gas.

Participants and collaborators of an increasingly large tech community in India pointed at its restrictive sense of digital and gender inclusion, as well other unhealthy organizational practices.

A collective of over 50 artists used online platforms to raise money for relief activities among daily wage laborers, as well as ethnic and religious minorities across Pakistan during the pandemic.

Private internet companies did not always apply their community standards to heads of states sharing misleading information, setting a troubling precedent for the future of the internet.

Open source software site GitHub became a censor-free and safe space to collect and share people’s stories during the early stages of COVID-19 in China.

COVID-19 deepened existing inequalities in regions inhabited by Indigenous communities in Colombia due to limited internet access.

Digital Inclusion Europe, Middle East

Turkey’s constitutional court overturned a government ban on Wikipedia, restoring access to the online encyclopedia.

The Egyptian government used Cybercrime Law to target women using social media, accusing them of bogus crimes like "destroying Egyptian family values" for dancing and singing in the videos.

Activists and community organizers took LGBTQI+ events and Pride celebrations online amid COVID-19 lockdown measures.

Technology companies provided law enforcement agencies with technologies that strengthen their abilities to target, surveil, and arrest immigrants and vulnerable communities without accountability.

The Governments of Mozambique and Rwanda hosted a workshop on digital skills and discussed critical questions regarding challenges and possibilities in their respective countries.

With great regional and household disparities in access to the internet in India, transition to online education due to COVID-19 negatively affected a total of 320 million learners.

The BBC took a step closer to a human values economy and away from the attention economy by investigating what its audiences value, as opposed to what will hold their attention.

The US government launched The Clean Network, a program designed to disconnect Chinese technologies and networks from US telecommunications networks, putting the mesh of internet routing at risk.

The Kaarana community analyzed India's official COVID-19 app for privacy risks. They shared their findings publicly and launched a Telegram group to discuss their concerns about the app.

A study by King's College London researchers found that internet platforms became amplifiers of COVID-19 misinformation on an enormous scale, inhibiting health-protective behavior.

Zoom introduced encryption for all free video calls, responding to public demand and providing more privacy for everyone, not just for those who can afford a premium plan.

The pandemic highlighted and widened the digital divide and lack of access to meaningful connectivity for over half the world's population.

Data for Black Lives compiled COVID-19 infection rates and classified them by race and by state, to demonstrate how COVID-19 disproportionately affects people of color.

Women in Uganda embraced online organizing to denounce their aggressors and help victims of harassment and sexual violence.

The Ford, Sloan, Mozilla, and Open Society Foundations are funding research into the maintenance of digital infrastructures, with the goal of supporting a more open and free internet.

India's Supreme Court extended year-old 4G limitations in Kashmir.

In Cameroon, virALLanguages worked with local communities to share videos and audio in Indigenous languages about basic COVID-19 information and prevention.

In Colombia, the regional governments of Bogotá and Antioquia issued COVID-19 alerts using imprecise data that had been collected without people's knowledge.

The Economic Community of West African States Court ruled in favor of protecting freedom of expression, ordaining that access to the internet was a right to be protected under the law.

Google's sister-company Loon used balloons to bring 4G internet access to remote areas of Kenya, bringing much needed access, but worrying experts about a communications monopoly in the country.

A group of developers helped people living in government censored environments use DNS technology to make their online activity more private and secure, protecting them from DNS attacks.

An EU ruling against certain data-sharing with the US highlighted the need for new data-sharing frameworks with some governments to protect EU citizens' rights.

Chicas Poderosas launched the first Spanish-language Massive Open Online Courses of its kind devoted to the development of leadership skills in newsrooms — and media in general — for women.

Musicians and singers in Egypt took their performances online during the COVID-19 lockdown to entertain and inspire music lovers.

School closures because of COVID-19 in Brazil increased the equity gap between the digital elite and students in more rural and less wealthy areas.

Teen activists flexed their political muscle by using the popular social media platform TikTok to disrupt Trump campaign's data collection efforts.

Thailand's government prepared to sue social media companies over users’ pro-reform posts that they considered critical of the monarchy.

A group of data literacy experts in the Dominican Republic launched "Internet Ambassadors," a program to promote internet health among youth and explain complex issues in an accessible way.

Scholars in South Africa shone light on inequalities in higher education and how they were made even worse by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The government of current OGP Co-Chair South Korea used the internet to widely share publicly accessible information on COVID-19 in a transparent, proactive and timely manner.

A study by the Web Foundation highlighted women’s lack of meaningful connectivity and privacy, among other complex limitations.

In an effort to envision feminist AI frameworks, Coding Rights and partners developed a virtual and physical card game designed to help people imagine and share ideas for alternative technologies.

Another year went on with Egyptian digital activist, renowned blogger and software designer Alaa Abd El Fattah in prison, a clear message from the government to digital and human rights defenders.

The Online Abortion Resource Squad organized a group of volunteers to ensure that every post asking for abortion-related help on Reddit subreddits gets an accurate and compassionate answer.

Digital Inclusion US & Canada, Middle East

Model Bella Hadid’s photo of her father’s US passport listing his birthplace as Palestine was mistakenly deleted from Instagram, whose system flagged it as “hate speech”.

The 2020 International Day for Universal Access to Information raised awareness about the right to information in times of crisis, as well as public access policies beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.

The OONI community found that DNS over TLS, a security protocol protecting users from digital eavesdropping, had been blocked in Iran.

Norway removed its COVID-19 contact tracing app following privacy concerns from its Data Protection Authority. A response that conveys an interest in protecting people's privacy despite the crisis.

Online education efforts in India excluded economically and socially vulnerable students in primary and higher education.

Radio Alhara, one of the few online community radio stations from Palestine, launched a space to connect with listeners in and beyond the region through art, music, and topical discussions.

A government sponsored mass phishing campaign took place in Venezuela, revealing the government's will to expose and target dissidents; and it was not the first time.

As schools closed due to the COVID-19 lockdown in India, the Saksham Resource Centre, a local NGO, helped more than 100 visually impaired students to continue their education online.

The EU argued in favor of digital sovereignty, raising fears about the possible global isolation of its networks in the near future.

Children’s right to protection and participation were overlooked in Uruguay’s data protection policy agenda.

The Web Foundation supported the first independent assessment of Namibia's digital readiness to support women’s empowerment, shedding light on existing inequalities despite national commitments.

A case study of a retweet by Donald Trump showed how false information, shared for inflammatory purposes, easily found itself in the US president's Twitter feed.

Derechos Digitales created the Rapid Response Fund, providing funding and support to activists and civil society groups in Latin America working on responses to human rights threats in technology.

Decentralization Asia, US & Canada

China’s technology development is intimately tied to the US, something critical to understand when observing internet health globally and that many analysts don’t understand well.

Women organized a hashtag campaign named after femicide victim Ingrid Escamilla to preserve her identity after search algorithms threatened to make leaked images of her murder prominent.

In a visit to his hometown, professor John Walubengo realized the staggering inequalities between urban and rural areas in Kenya in terms of internet access and content language.

India's Telecom Regulatory Authority adopted recommendations including demands put forth by digital rights organizations that push back on measures favored by telecom companies.

The national system in charge of all online public procedures and governmental paperwork was hacked and around 19 gigabytes of Chilean people's data, including passwords and bio IDs, were stolen.

Internet Sans Frontières launched the campaign #MoicamerounaiseDuNet and #DigitalCamerWoman to visibilize Cameroonian women using the internet for entrepreneurship, innovation, and solidarity.

Uber and Lyft spent $200 million USD and used their apps in a campaign to counter a California ballot measure that would have changed the employment classification of drivers.

Following criticism from civil society, the Tunisian government dropped a draft law to combat disinformation that would have been a significant threat to freedom of expression online.

India proposed a data protection law that could downplay privacy through government intervention and jeopardize rights like freedom of speech and sexual autonomy.

With the support of Ushahidi International Foundation, the Iraqi Network for Social Media set a collaborative online map documenting human rights violations in Iraq.

Web Literacy Middle East

Dr. Li Wenliang, the COVID-19 whistleblower, was reprimanded by the Chinese government for alerting people on social media about the virus early on.

The surge in internet demand during the pandemic demonstrated the strength of its design as a highly distributed and reliable system in ways that would be difficult to imagine of other utilities.

Disinformation dominated the online conversation in the US with groups like QAnon spreading conspiracy even among the highest spaces of power while online platforms shied away from intervening.

Two Cambodian universities created a platform and a study program called Media 101, designed to teach media literacy and fight disinformation online.

As COVID-19 forced education to continue online, a lack of language diversity in the academic materials available online contributed to major limitations and digital inequalities.

Decentralization Global

Malicious actors believed to come from China targeted social media in Taiwan to spread disinformation —previously called fake news—, particularly during and after the last presidential elections.

The first issue of the online magazine Branch brought together a team of researchers, writers, and designers aiming to start conversations about tech’s footprint, and a more sustainable internet.

With the advance of COVID-19, global internet freedom became increasingly targeted worldwide, making data privacy and openness an afterthought at a time when we probably need them most.

85% of the web pages that were visited in 2020 used HTTPS, leading to better practices that increase people's online privacy, security, and internet health.

Deepfakes are increasingly easy and cheap to create, showed one data scientist who spoofed images and audio of the actor Tom Hanks to make a point.

Zoom committed to releasing its first ever transparency report as part of their commitment to improve privacy measures in response to public criticism.

A Catalan pro-independence politician was the target of “government-grade spyware,” raising concerns about possible government surveillance.

Efforts to expand access to the internet in remote areas of Iran brought fast internet coverage to rural villages.

Protest organizers struggled to access information and use apps like Telegram during the internet shutdown in Belarus.

In a creative response to intimidation from Zambian authorities, young activists staged a protest in the relative safety of a secret location. They livestreamed it and created a civic space online.

The Lebanese government implemented internet shutdowns in response to anti-government protests. As a result, media coverage of the protests was restricted and protestors struggled to coordinate aid.

Brazilian researchers and communicators created the National Network to Fight Disinformation (RNCD), gathering and sharing data that help the public navigate fake news during COVID-19.

Research NGO EU DisinfoLab found that COVID-19 disinformation in Europe evolved with the spread of the virus and adapted its narratives to fit specific cultural and social contexts.

Facebook removed over 100 fake accounts used by police and military units to spread hate and incite violence against activists and critics in the Philippines.

A bill targeting the spread of disinformation on WhatsApp threatened Brazilian users' privacy and security.

The digital rights conference Bread&Net 2020 took place online and concentrated on connecting marginalized voices from the MENA region to global conversations about digital rights.

A Survation opinion poll by the Open Knowledge Foundation found that 51% of people surveyed in the UK reported receiving content on social media about COVID-19 they believed to be misinformation.

The Indian government’s decision to block 59 Chinese apps raised questions about internet freedom and whether it is being sacrificed in the name of national security.

AskHistorians, a Reddit-based community hosted a crowdsourced, free, and fully open academic history conference online, likely to have been the first of its kind.

Many governments view digital ID chips as an important way to improve digital governance. However, often the privacy and security risks are overlooked. The same happened in Taiwan.

In Egypt, student Nadeen Ashraf exposed cases of sexual violence through Instagram, gaining over 70,000 followers within days and igniting an online movement fighting violence against women

Thailand’s digital minister threatened Facebook with legal action for not complying with government requests to restrict content deemed illegal or perceived as insulting to the monarchy.

Aiming to provide reliable information about COVID-19 in South Africa, two University of Cape Town alumni built an online platform for sharing information about the disease and its development.

German authorities raided FinFisher, a spyware company alleged to have sold surveillance tools to Turkey illegally.

Anti-abortion groups in the United States took advantage of the misinformation crisis triggered by COVID-19 to spread false information about abortion and abortion-rights activists.

Governments and health organizations worldwide shared data to contribute to global strategies against COVID-19, highlighting how open data can be a critical resource to limit the spread of the virus.

A local militia group in the United States posted a call on Facebook to "take up arms and defend our city [...] from evil thugs" amid Black Lives Matter protests.

Kerala became the first state in India to provide hi-tech classrooms in all government run or supported schools, achieving a wide digitization of schools.

Ethnic violence was "supercharged" by hate speech and incitements shared widely on Facebook after the assassination of a popular singer in Ethiopia.

The Council of Europe's Political Affairs Committee urged the Council to create a legally binding instrument for the democratic governance of AI.

A high profile case of non-consensual sexual image distribution online in Namibia showed the need for legislation to protect women from this form of violence.

The UN released a Roadmap for Digital Cooperation with goals and strategies to advance a safer, more equitable digital world.

Privacy and Security US & Canada, Middle East

In 2020, the national Dutch public broadcasting organization NPO switched from targeted ads to contextual ones.

Facebook and Instagram incorrectly flagged posts about killings in Nigeria during the #EndSARS protests as “fake news.”

The Panama chapter of the Internet Society created an educational program that launched a discussion around the history of the internet in Panama, its public policy, and its digital rights status.

Rape and death threats against a cricket team captain's wife and five year old daughter flooded social media in India after his team lost a match.

American community builder Naj Austin launched a new platform and one-stop-shop devoted to creating safe online spaces for people of color to connect and create.

Stanford Medical Center relied on an algorithm to determine who would be first in line to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. The algorithm excluded front line medical staff.

A research team from various universities and institutions in the US is openly sharing a tool that could help recognize and identify political social media influence operations.

The 2020 DARE Index reported that the implementation of digital accessibility in the 26 countries studied remained low: 42% have no policy, while 20% are at a minimum level of implementation.

ISOC Benin organized an event to celebrate women working with digital technologies and invited anyone to join the community regardless of education level.

Social media attacks on Indian actress Rhea Chakraborty after the suicide of her actor boyfriend Sighn Rajput were a stark reminder of gender based harassment and disparities online.

Open source mapping project Frena la Curva was created to coordinate efforts and strategies among volunteers and organizations to help those in need during the COVID-19 crisis in Spain.

Because of COVID-19, disparities in online education negatively impacted students who did not have access to technology.

Political analyst Nanjala Nyabola shed light on the impact of social media on Kenyan politics — including the government's use of Cambridge Analytica in Kenya's 2017 election.

A journalist went through a harassment campaign after a national media outlet published a note in their sports section about her comments on social media criticizing a football team.

Colectiva por la Libre Información para las Mujeres

A group of researchers and educators from Egypt, Kenya, Australia, and the US joined forces to make online community-building resources available to educators around the world.

A massive data leak led to the sale of Ukrainian citizens' private information over Telegram.

In Uruguay, NGO Rights of the Child Committee, hosted webinars on cyberactivism to engage youth in the use of social media and to encourage them to voice their opinions in matters that affect them.

A data scientist was fired from the Florida Department of Health for refusing to manipulate online COVID-19 data, which could lead to the premature reopening of counties.

Uganda's Communication Commission launched free hotspots to provide broadband services at five borders, providing connectivity in transit areas and facilitating business during COVID-19.

In Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Tanzania, the government used copyright claims under the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act as a gag for journalists, activists, and civil society organizations.

Nigerian youth organized an online fundraising campaign to support local protesters, their data needs, and support services like emergency medical care, legal counsel, and security.

Advertisers returned to Facebook based on its commitment to improve users' safety, but there was no evidence that Facebook had taken any meaningful action.

iWatch Africa, a nonprofit organization from Ghana made plans to use artificial intelligence to fight online violence and harassment against journalists and rights activists.

Repressive regimes used digital tools to target, censor, and harass their opponents beyond their national borders.

Global tech organization Meedan presented a study and content moderation toolkit for civil society organizations and platforms seeking to find a common vocabulary and methodology.

Web Literacy Global

Indonesia saw a rise in politically motivated online violence against women in many forms, including device hacks to spread disinformation and/or the sharing of sexual images.

Events organized by local activists, like Civic Square’s Re_ Festival, moved online and made a positive, global impact by helping us imagine better futures.

The Cambodian government proposed the creation of a national internet gateway to control online traffic, drawing concerns over its potential to block free access to information.

Benin’s High Audiovisual and Communication Authority ordered the cessation of all online media publication ahead of elections in 2021.

Showing the power of collective action, students used a popular internet forum to host discussions with a death row prisoner believed to be innocent, gaining support for a petition to release him.

Japanese reality TV star Hana Kimura died by suicide after sustained and severe online abuse due to the way her character was presented as a villain.

In a legal win for internet rights defenders, judges of the Jakarta State Administrative Court ruled that the deliberate internet shutdowns of 2019 in Papua and West Papua were illegal.

The Taiwanese government planned to enforce its citizens’ use of the national ID chip (eID) despite major privacy concerns.

As part of the Milk Tea Alliance movement, pro-democracy protesters in Thailand received support online from activists from Hong Kong and Taiwan and learned protection tactics from online videos.

As the pandemic forced millions of students to take tests online, some proctoring algorithmic systems ended up reinforcing racial discrimination and privacy violations.

The online campaign #VigilanciaFeminista exposed the failures of Peru’s COVID-19 strategy, which was hindering women and non-binary individuals from accessing sexual and reproductive healthcare.

Colectiva por la Libre Información para las Mujeres

The Indonesian military, in partnership with civilian volunteers, published pro-government propaganda under the guise of independent news.

Youth-led Ghana Internet Governance Forum successfully took their event online for 2020 and gathered over 30 policy experts and 110 participants.

A government imposed internet shutdown in northern Ethiopia made it difficult for journalists to do their work, making the spread of misinformation more likely.

Meedan, a global tech organization, set up a project to mobilize Latin American activists around the risks related to having their history and memory in the hands of corporate social media platforms.

Zoombombing, a phenomenon in which intruders hijack video calls and post hate speech and offensive images, became a common occurrence in 2020. So common and worrying that the FBI issued a warning.

Datos Protegidos in Chile organized #FemHackParty 2020 online, gathering cyber-feminist organizations through conversations and workshops on issues including self-care and digital security.

A renowned Colombian magazine downgraded in quality after changing strategies to prioritize online ‘clicks’ over the investigative journalism it was known for.

The Ethiopian government shut down the internet for two weeks following protests demanding justice for the killing of Oromo musician, Haacaaluu Hundeessaa.

Article 19 made a series of culturally-adapted videos with trustworthy information about COVID-19 in some of the local languages of Mexico’s provinces of Chiapas and Yucatán.

With high numbers of people lacking proper access to the internet in low income countries and communities, COVID-19 demonstrated how much the internet should, but is not, a universal right for all.

The Youth Ki Awaaz community mentored thousands of writers in effective online action for offline causes like women’s health and caste discrimination.

Documents from US federal agencies showed they have explored, if not actively deployed, hacking tools in criminal investigations, raising major questions regarding oversight and privacy.

A group of women in Guatemala created an online space devoted to the inclusion of women with disabilities through different projects, including a podcast and a webcomic about good online practices.

Despite concerns over privacy and discrimination, India made mandatory the use of a COVID-19 smartphone app for travel by train and airplane.

The Colombian Institute of Internet and Society supported Indigenous Wayuu communities in delivering COVID-19 related information in both Spanish and Wayuunaiki using different online channels.

The US government considered banning WeChat and TikTok, a move its critics considered a step toward technonationalism.

Three Finnish universities teamed up with a public broadcaster and government agency to compile dialects from around the country to develop technology that understands variances in tone and dialect.

"Draconian" regulation of social media content by the Pakistani government shook and worried service providers and digital rights activists alike.

Feminist organization Amaranta led a study around sexist violence online in Chile that included trans and non binary women and shed light on an otherwise invisibilized problem in the country.

A study by the Web Foundation and UN Women found complex and important gender inequalities in access to digital tools and the internet when taking rural areas and language into account.

COVID-19 functioned like a catalyst for the adoption of new technologies and innovations in India as many workers had to adapt their activities to an online setting.

With educators lacking digital literacy to teach online, and students deprived of access to the internet, the pandemic translated into a difficult challenge for education in the Dominican Republic.

US representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez live-streamed the popular online game ‘Among Us’ to encourage young Americans to vote in US elections.

Digital learning in Uganda left many school children out.

In the last four years, Benin has doubled its internet connectivity rate.

Over 200,000 students in Panama were excluded from public education when the pandemic forced schools to go online.

To fight the feeling of despair caused by state executions, Iranians created #stopexecutions to protest the regime's killings.

Deeptrace found that 96% of nonconsensual deepfake videos online were of a pornographic nature despite them often being portrayed as a political threat.

A coalition of strategic partners from 77 countries brought their citizens together to discuss the future of internet health.

The viral nature of online media combined with COVID-19 fears “primed” Americans to believe online misinformation about the US 2020 presidential election.

Artist Mo Willems did a weekly doodle series for children, creating a virtual space to support them and their families in the difficult context of the pandemic.

On election day in Burundi, the internet was shut down for 36 hours. The shutdown also had a negative impact on the country's economy.