Season 2, Episode 7 - HRDs Defending Digital Space

Rights on the Line

Season 2, Episode 7 - HRDs Defending Digital Space - FLD Intro: 00:00 - 01:18 - Rabah Nouami, Morocco: 01:18 - 09:42 - Larisa Schmillevitch, Brazil: 09:43 - 22:45 - Asan 'AJ', South Sudan,: 22:46 - 29:31 - HRD, Sri Lanka: 29:32 - 39:54 In this episode of the Front Line Defenders podcast Rights on the Line, we’ll hear from human rights defenders in Morocco, Sri Lanka, South Sudan, and Brazil talk about the unique online threats to their work and when the significance of digital protection can mean the difference between life and death. Through the global pandemic, we are all making adaptations to new modes of working. Many of us are now work remotely, in different physical and emotional environments. But for those human rights defenders whose work always posed threats to their wellbeing and safety, the crisis has no doubt been abused to further repress their activities. Defending digital safety has never been more urgent. Since the outbreak of Covid-19, governments around the world have introduced and implemented sweeping restrictions on freedom of movement and freedom of assembly. Defenders cannot access their offices to communicate with one another from safer locations. Risks to the work of HRDs such as hackings, reduced or costly online access, and unprotected communications platforms, make defenders more vulnerable than ever when they depend on these tools. And, as people under lockdown are more focused than ever on their computers and phones as a sole means to communicate, online communities thrive. Hate campaigns spread like wildfire.