Bytes for All (B4A)

Various groups expressed misgivings about the process by which a cybercrime bill was drafted and revised. The democratic process in Pakistan is undermined and the bill contains several provisions that are potentially damaging to privacy and freedom of expression.

They don’t write for The New York Times or The Daily Mail. And the Swazi government is counting on just that to keep Bheki Makhubu and Thulani Maseko in jail for criticizing the judiciary.

British intelligence services acted unlawfully in accessing millions of people’s personal communications collected by the NSA, the Investigatory Powers Tribunal ruled on 6 February 2015.

The international community’s response to the current charges leveled against prominent activist Nabeel Rajab has been monumental in denouncing the Criminal Investigations Department and the Bahraini government for their actions.

Bytes For All is alarmed by the recommendations made by the Pakistani parliamentary body that seeks to impose McCarthyism-style regulations on the media and Internet, in reaction to the December Peshawar school attack.

Technology based violence is exposing women to the entire spectrum of conceivable harms in Pakistan, says a Bytes for All research report. The report also highlights the negative impact created by the lack of a cybercrime law.

Civil society groups call for an end to repression of IFEX member the Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety, and urge UNESCO to take action to ensure free expression in Azerbaijan.

Independent organizations in Egypt face a looming crackdown. The government has threatened to enforce a draconian associations law that became law 12 years ago, but has seldom been enforced.