Open-Ended Working Group on the security of and in the use of information and communications technologies 2021-2025 (OEWG) has disclosed the list of non-governmental entities approved to participate in its work. Following the modalities of stakeholder participation previously agreed upon by the Member States, the list of interested parties that requested to participate in the work of the OEWG was circulated for the consideration of Governments of the Permanent Missions to the United Nations on a non-objection basis. As result, only 54 organisations out of 86 that registered were accredited, in addition to the 17 with the ECOSOC Consultative Status. Among the organisations that were vetoed by some of the Member States are Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), Chatham House, CyberPeace Institute, Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams (FIRST), Global Forum on Cyber Expertise (GFCE), Microsoft, World Economic Forum, as well as Kaspersky, the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, and the Institute of State and Law of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
In response, 28 organisations and companies from all over the world have signed a joint letter addressing the Chair of the OEWG, Ambassador Burhan Gafoor, to “express deep regret with the recent decision of a few member states to exclude over 30 members of industry and civil society” from the workings of the OEWG. The signatories urged the Chair “to seek conversation with relevant parties in the OEWG to reverse the recent decision that prevents the contribution of many members of the multistakeholder community to the OEWG process”.
According to the International Association of Privacy Professionals, several advocacy groups have come out in support of the proposed American Data Privacy and Protection Act in the wake of claims from members of the U.S. Congress that the proposed text contains less stringent provisions compared to the California Consumer Privacy Act. The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) is among the groups to explain how the federal proposal goes further with its provisions on data minimization, sensitive data protections and consumer redress via a private right of action.
European Commission has decided to send a reasoned opinion to Slovenia for failing to implement important obligations under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), as well as for not making it possible for its Data Protection Authority to use all the corrective powers under the GDPR. The Commission considers that Slovenia has failed to fulfil its obligations stemming from the GDPR due to its persistent failure to reform its pre-GDPR national data protection framework. On 9 February 2022, the Commission sent a letter of formal notice to Slovenia asking it to adapt its national data protection framework, including the rules on its Data Protection Authority, and to enable it to exercise effectively all the corrective powers provided under the GDPR.
According to TechCrunch, the Italian competition authority has opened an investigation into Google over concerns it has abused a dominant position by hindering data portability rights which are afforded to individuals under the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The procedure follows a complaint made to the authority by the operator of a direct marketing platform called Weople. Reuters reports that the competition regulator carried out inspections at Google premises along with Italy’s finance police.
Nyein Nyein Aye, a Myanmar freelancer and journalist, was sentenced to a three-year prison sentence for the spread of ‘false news.’ She was also accused of causing fear and agitating crimes against a government employee. While Nyein worked for various media outlets, one of them: Mizzima News, was banned by the junta.
Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk implied that this arrest is followed by the big wave of arrests of journalists after the February 2021 coup. He also noted that these sentences behind closed doors by military courts are similar to a factory production line. RSF’s press freedom barometer shows that she is the 24th journalist to receive a prison sentence out of the 67 media workers currently held in Myanmar’s prisons.
U.S. president Joe Biden said in his speech at the Arab summit in Saudi Arabia that the United States will keep its close partnership with the Middle East while urging leaders who attended the summit to advance human rights as a powerful source of economic and social changes. With that being said, freedom of the press and democratic rights are highlighted. He urged the necessity of releasing journalists.
Biden sent a message to the leaders saying: ‘Accountable, accountable institutions that are free from corruption and act transparently and respect the rule of law are the best way to deliver growth, respond to people’s needs, and I believe ensure justice.’
The Russian prosecutor’s office brought on a 350-page complaint against the independent Journalists’ and Media Workers’ Union (JMWU), in order to disband it. The union learned about the complaint on 13 July. The complaint proposes that some of the employees are foreign agents while some were accused of systematically harming the state and society with their actions.
The reasons behind the complaint are mainly due to the fact that the JMWU publicly opposed the war in Ukraine, defended Russian journalists who were prosecuted, and criticized media censorship in their country. They also signed the ‘Perugia Declaration for Ukraine’, which confirmed their support for Ukrainian journalists.
Yurii Shchyhol, the head of the Ukrainian State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection, warns there might be an ongoing World Cyber War since the start of Russia’s invasion. Russian cyberespionage and cyberattacks since 24 February weren’t targeted only at Ukraine. Their intervention has been recorded in 42 countries across six continents, mostly from NATO and countries which supported Ukraine during this period.
Shchyhol has stated for Politico that the world has been awakened and that countries are more willing to intensely cooperate with each other on these issues. He also advised: ‘But what we need are not further sanctions and further efforts to curb cyberattacks, we also need for global security companies to leave the market of the Russian Federation. Only then can we ensure the victory will be ours, especially in cyberspace.’
In this interview, it was said that there is strong assistance from the U.S. Cyber Command and the National Security Agency as all of Russia’s attacks are ‘an ongoing, continuous war, including the war in cyberspace.’ What Shchyhol also warns us is that despite the two-month stagnation of Russian cyber attacks, what they’re doing is just a part of their tactic in order to collect resources for another attack – which will likely be on a global level.
Article 19 releases a Global Expression Report annually, tracking the right to freedom of expression and information across 161 countries using 25 indicators to create a score between 0 and 100 for every country.
The 2022 report, published in June, reveals a downward trend, indicating that about 15% of the global population live with less freedom of expression – where they can seek, receive, or share information freely and safely, than they did a decade ago.
In this year’s report, Article 19 highlights the changes over three time periods: the past year (2020–2021), the last 5 years (2016–2021), and the last 10 years (2011–2021). Their global view reveals that all regional scores are either declining or have remained stagnant
Iván Santell-Velázquez pled guilty before the United States District Court Judge Silvia Carreño-Coll, to cyberstalking. The defendant hacked 100 student email accounts and stole their personal information while studying at the University of Puerto Rico at Cayey. Additionally, in the years between 2019 and 2021, the defendant hacked the Snapchat accounts of several women, who were studying at the University of Puerto Rico, and harassed them by sharing their intimate pictures on Twitter and Facebook.
US Attorney Muldrow stated that this case shows how crucial it is to protect personal information, especially in response to suspicious SMS messages and emails. On October 12, 2022, the sentencing hearing is expected to take place.
