World Press Freedom Day News:
Today marks World Press Freedom Day and a global network of more than 40 organizations are demanding that democratic governments around the world commit to protecting encryption, privacy, and ensure a free and open Internet.
Thirty years ago, the United Nations General Assembly declared May 3 World Press Freedom Day to raise awareness of the importance of freedom of the press and remind governments of their duty to respect and uphold the right to freedom of expression enshrined under Article 19 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Today’s call from this global network comes in an open letter that states “Encryption is a critical tool for user privacy, data security, safety online, press freedom, self-determination, and free expression. Without encryption, users’ data and communications can be accessed by law enforcement and malicious actors. Government attacks on encrypted services threaten privacy and puts users at risk. This might seem like a distant problem primarily faced in authoritarian countries but the threat is just as real and knocking at the doors of democratic nations.”
This effort emerges amid threats to Internet users’ rights and freedoms posed by harmful legislation such as the Online Safety Bill in the UK, the Lawful Access to Encrypted Data Act and EARN IT Act in the USA, India’s Directions 20(3)/2022 – CERT-In, the Surveillance Legislation Amendment Act in Australia as well as the proposed rules to prevent and combat child sexual abuse in the EU. These are alarming examples of democratic governments following in the path of authoritarian governments like Russia and Iran, who actively limit their citizens’ access to encrypted services thereby weakening their human rights.
Signatories call on governments to:
(a) ensure that encryption is not being undermined via overreaching legislative initiatives;
(b) ensure that technologies providing secure, encrypted services are not being blocked or throttled; and
(c) revisit any bills, laws and policies that legitimize undermining encryption or blocking access to services offering encrypted communication.
This open letter is sent today to policymakers in the US, the EU, Canada, the UK, Australia and India. On World Press Freedom Day, the goal is to stress the fact that encryption is needed to uphold free democracies—not just for all citizens, but particularly for journalists and whistleblowers.
Read the full letter and view the signatories at: https://www.fightforthefuture.org/news/2023-05-03-open-letter-protect-our-rights-to-privacy-free-expression-and-press-freedom/.
The letter is still collecting signatures from interested organizations at https://airtable.com/shrOLz1jqthJZzhOA.
