Reporters Without Borders (RWB) is an international non-profit public interest organization in France which has defended the promotion of freedom of information since 1985.
On 18 July, RWB will present its newly founded Digital Security Lab: a digital forensic laboratory that will help combat the threats of online surveillance. Based in Berlin, the Digital Security Lab is designed to analyze the devices of journalists who suspect they are under any digital surveillance. Journalists are a target of many threats that can affect their devices or personal social accounts for malicious reasons. This requires a rigorous and united response, and that is why any journalist will be able to contact the Digital Security Lab if they suspect they are the target of digital espionage because of their work.
Journalists often receive sophisticated phishing messages, and Digital Security Lab experts will search for clues with the analysis of suspicious messages to find out if they are for sent spying purposes. The team will also examine installed programmes and will check for other data traces that might offer traces about previous activities and spying technologies.
The OECD has released a progress report on Pillar One of the new global tax rules, and specifically on the design of the so-called Amount A. The report confirms the need for further agreement before it is ready to be reflected in a multilateral convention. The convention will also include rules for withdrawing existing unilateral digital services taxes, which have been sprouting in many jurisdictions.
The rules under Pillar One will ensure that profits are distributed more fairly. Those very large companies, which generate billions in revenues will have to pay taxes on 25% of the profit they make above a 10% threshold of revenue – a threshold referred to as Amount A.
Relatives of Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh, who was killed while covering an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank in May, showed their deep disappointment in President Joe Biden in a letter released over his administration’s response to her death.
The family accused the U.S. of trying to deny Israel’s responsibility for her death, saying in an official statement that Israeli fire most likely killed her but that the shooting in the West Bank town of Jenin was an accident. They sent a request to Biden for meeting with them when he visits the region, which The White House declined to comment on, alongside with the matters of the letter.
Palestinian eyewitnesses who claimed they saw she was shot by Israeli forces gained support from a reconstruction made by The Associated Press, investigations by CNN, New York Times, and The Washington Post as well as monitoring by the U.N. human rights office.
The European Accessibility Act is an EU law that should ensure the accessibility of a range of products and services for persons with disabilities. These include: computers, Tablets, banking services, ticketing machines, smartphones, TVs, e-books, online shopping etc.
On 28 June 2022, the European Accessibility Act had to be transposed into national law according to the deadline set in the legislation that was adopted in 2019. The adopted law takes the form of an EU Directive, this means that the provisions are not directly applicable but, Member States first have to include them into their national laws. This can be done in two ways;
1. Have a new law on accessibility, or
2. Include the accessibility provisions in a range of existing national laws So far, four Member States; Austria, Belgium, Estonia, and Finland have notified the European Commission on their finalization of the transposition and published their national laws in the national language(s)
British Army’s Twitter and YouTube accounts were hacked. The name of the Army’s Twitter account was changed, while videos on cryptocurrency, and posts related to NFTs appeared on their feed. The British Army stated there is no evidence as to who may be behind the hacking of the accounts. The accounts were restored to normal while investigations regarding the hacks are still ongoing. Army’s spokesperson stated that there will not be any further comments on the incident until the investigation is complete.
The office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a report on the dramatic real-life effects of internet shutdowns on people’s lives and how this has been vastly underestimated.
‘Too often, major communication channels or entire communication networks are slowed down or blocked,’ the report says, adding that this has deprived ‘thousands or even millions of people of their only means of reaching loved ones, continuing their work or participating in political debates or decisions.’
The report also discusses the phenomenon of internet shutdowns, looking at when and why they are imposed and examining how they undermine a range of human rights, primarily the right to freedom of expression. The report notes that between 2016 and 2021, there have been 931 shutdowns in 74 countries, as documented by the #KeepItOn coalition.
The Chair of the UN Open-Ended Working Group on security of and in the use of information and communications technologies 2021-2025 (OEWG), Ambassador Burhan Gafoor of Singapore, prepared the Zero-Draft of the first annual progress report. The Zero-draft should serve as a starting point for discussions, with an intent for the OEWG to adopt its first annual progress report by consensus at the end of the third substantive session of the OEWG, 25-29 July 2022 in New York.
According to the Chair, the Zero Draft is intended to be a balanced text that captures the range of concrete ideas and proposals raised during the first and second substantive sessions, and to provide a framework for more focused and in-depth discussions on the topics under the OEWG mandate, thus serving as a roadmap for future work in 2023.
Hungary’s Parliament has adopted a resolution opposing the proposed deal on a global minimum tax. This comes days Hungary blocked the directive at the EU Council.
The reasons given for the resolution were inflation and the economic crisis due to the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. Hungary said the OECD Pillar Two’s minimum tax, which the EU directive is seeking to implement, will put European countries at a competitive disadvantage.
Hungary’s corporate tax rate stands at 9%, the lowest in Europe. The country remains the only member state opposing the proposed EU directive.
In a turn of events at today’s Economic and Financial Affairs Council meeting (17 June 2022), Hungary has withdrawn its support for the proposed EU directive to implement Pillar Two of the OECD’s global minimum tax. Poland, which was the only country with reservations so far, announced its support for the compromise text – the third compromise text by the French candidacy (published 16 June 2022) since the start of the negotiations at ECOFIN.
Hungarian Finance Minister Mihaly Varga explained his position by referring to ‘critical voices’ within the Hungarian Parliament. The parliament’s concerns related to the economic impact of the Ukrainian war, and the uncertain consequences that would flow from the introduction of the minimum tax at such an early stage.
In response, French Finance Minister Bruno le Maire said that Hungary had already supported the proposed directive at previous ECOFIN meetings.
Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Telecom Egypt for the construction of the first subsea cable directly connecting the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Egypt. The MoU was signed in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia by Salman Al-Badran, CEO of Mobily, and Adel Hamed, managing director and CEO of Telecom Egypt. The MoU is part of Mobliy’s efforts to enhance its global infrastructure, boost the digital economy and provide digital solutions that align with the goals of the government’s Saudi Vision 2030.
Telecom Egypt has been a key partner for subsea cable projects globally, and has recently entered into an agreement to become a landing partner for Aqua Comms’ EMIC-1 cable project. Through this agreement, both companies will explore new ways to connect international capacity in Europe through Telecom Egypt’s network, to the GCC through Mobily’s network. Both companies’ networks will be expanded and interconnected with neighbouring countries.
