News

Digital rights falter amid political and social unrest

SHARE Foundation and Balkan Investigative Reporting Network – BIRN, which have been monitoring the state of digital rights and freedoms in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Hungary, North Macedonia, Romania and Serbia since 2019, published a report on the violations of human rights and freedoms in the digital environment in the context of social and political unrest. From August 2019 to December 2020, the regional monitoring recorded more than 800 digital rights violations in an interactive online database.

Journalists, civil society activists, officials and the general public have faced vicious attacks – including verbal abuse, trolling, smear campaigns and pressure to retract content – in response to publishing information online. Many of our data were compromised and our privacy increasingly endangered with widespread surveillance, especially during the pandemic. 

BIRN and SHARE took an interdisciplinary approach and looked at the problems from a legal, political, tech and societal aspect in order to show the complexity of cases in which the violations of digital rights and freedoms occur. Most online violations, a total of 375, were related to pressures because of online activities or speech, which includes threats, insults, unfounded accusations, hate speech, discrimination, etc. These issues create an atmosphere dominated by fear and hatred, which makes vulnerable communities such as LGBT+ or migrants subjected to additional attacks. 

The main trends highlighted in the report are:

  • Democratic elections being undermined
  • Public service websites being hacked
  • The provocation and exploitation of social unrest
  • Spreading of conspiracy theories and pseudo-information
  • Online hatred leaving vulnerable people more isolated
  • Tech shortcuts failing to solve complex societal problems

Report findings show the need for legislative, political and social changes in monitored countries – the digital evolution must be viewed as a set of mechanisms and tools which primarily have to serve the needs of the people. The COVID-19 pandemic has proven that an open, free and affordable internet is absolutely essential in times of crisis. Only by insisting on accountability for digital rights breaches and providing education on the risks and possibilities of the digital environment can we hope to create a progressive, open and tolerant society. 

Related content

Biometrics again in the Draft Law on Internal Affairs

The Ministry of Interior published a new version of the Draft Law on Internal Affairs, the Draft Law on Data Processing and Records in Internal Affairs, as well as a series of other laws from its jurisdiction. The proposed legislation contains provisions regulating biometric surveillance in public spaces. The public discussion on the drafts is open until 31 December. SHARE Foundation […]

Digital rights organizations ask for transparency in content removal on Facebook

More than 70 organizations from all around the world, with SHARE Foundation among them, signed an open letter to the Chief Executive Officer of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg  with a request of ensuring transparency and liability for the content removal process on this social network. The letter requests from Facebook to clearly and precisely reveal how much content […]

SHARE Foundation and organizations for the protection of digital rights warn about the misuse of GDPR in Romania

Journalists of RISE Project from Romania, an investigative media outlet, were threatened with fines in the amount of 20 million EUR if they do not allow the access to personal data, thus 18 organizations for the protection of digital rights and freedoms and SHARE Foundation among them, sent a letter to Andrea Jelinek, the Chair of the European […]