International news in seven languages
Topic
In the latest GV podcast, we discussed why Russia restricts access to many social media services, while Belarus does not impose comparable restrictions; censorship, surveillance, and digital authoritarianism — Belarusian style.
Georgia’s deteriorating press freedom is part of a broader process of democratic backsliding, with the right to peaceful protest severely restricted, opposition politicians jailed, a decline in judicial independence, and more.
Technologies developed, tested and refined under occupation do not stay there; they get exported to the rest of the world
Access Now's 2025 report found that at least 313 shutdowns were implemented globally, and that in Africa the Internet was shut down 30 times in 15 countries, with protests the leading trigger, followed by elections.
Digital authoritarianism is not developing in isolation, but through the international exchange of technologies, standards, and practices.
The controversial reciprocal trade agreements (ARTs) gives the U.S. a great deal of power, which could adversely affect digital connectivity, increase digital divides, and reduce economic growth in signatory countries.
In 2024 the African Commission itself adopted a resolution on internet shutdowns during elections. The resolution treats a shutdown as a harm to expression and access to information...
In central Sahel's countries military juntas claim to restore popular sovereignty. Political parties are dissolved in all three countries, over a thousand civil society organizations have been suspended.
Room to protest is narrowing in Africa, as governments lean on arrests, curfews, and internet blackouts to blunt dissent. When the streets become too dangerous, dissent often migrates online.
The protests strengthened the political consciousness of some young Nigerians and encouraged greater participation in elections, governance and activism. For others, the experience produced fear, distrust and disillusionment.
Bangladesh’s 2024 uprising toppled a government, but two years later, reforms to police, judiciary, cyber laws, and state institutions remain contested, incomplete, and debated, leaving citizens asking whether real change occurred.
As in-person gatherings have become difficult to organize or too risky for citizens, online protest has become an increasingly common form of political dissent in Togo.
At first, artists who emigrated still dealt with themes of war and their departure from Russia. Later, these broadened to include loss of home, identity, displacement and loneliness.
