A Wider View on TunnelVision and VPN Advice

If you listen to any podcast long enough, you will almost certainly hear an advertisement for a Virtual Private Network (VPN). These advertisements usually assert that a VPN is the only tool you need to stop cyber criminals, malware, government surveillance, and online tracking. But these advertisements vastly oversell the benefits of VPNs. The reality […]

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SIDS go forward with ‘new sense of hope, solidarity and determination’

Speaking at the closing of the Fourth International Conference on Small Island States (SIDS4), Amina Mohammed stressed that despite increasingly existential threats to SIDS, “we do have reasons for hope and optimism”. More than 20 world leaders and senior ministers from over 100 nations joined close to 4,000 other participants on the lush campus of […]

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The Alaska Supreme Court Takes Aerial Surveillance’s Threat to Privacy Seriously, Other Courts Should Too

In March, the Alaska Supreme Court held in State v. McKelvey that the Alaska Constitution required law enforcement to obtain a warrant before photographing a private backyard from an aircraft. In this case, the police took photographs of Mr. McKelvey’s property, including the constitutionally protected curtilage area, from a small aircraft using a zoom lens. […]

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More climate funding needed to ‘transition from rhetoric to decisive action’

That was the strong message from President of the Western Pacific nation of Palau Surangel Whipps speaking at an Interactive Dialogue on Wednesday during the Fourth International Conference on SIDS (SIDS4), taking place this week on the twin island of Antigua and Barbuda in the Caribbean. He told delegates there needed to be a “transition […]

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Global unemployment set to decline slightly this year: UN labour agency

The updated World Employment and Social Outlook report predicts that the global unemployment rate will be 4.9 per cent in 2024, slightly down from 5.0 per cent in 2023.  This represents a revision from the previous projection in January of 5.2 per cent for this year, which is expected to flatten in 2025, with unemployment […]

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Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Section 230 | EFFector 36.7

Curious about the latest digital rights news? Well, you’re in luck! In our latest newsletter we cover topics ranging from: lawmakers planning to sunset the most important law to free expression online, Section 230; our brief regarding data sharing of electronic ankle monitoring devices; and the simple proposition that no one country should be restricting […]

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SIDS drowning in debt and ‘running on empty’, warns Guterres in Antigua

That’s the warning from UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Day Two of the pivotal Fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS4) taking place in the Caribbean twin island nation of Antigua and Barbuda this week. The 39 States known collectively as SIDS have been uniquely vulnerable to the trifecta of COVID – which […]

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UN hub reaches remote Pacific islanders: A UN Resident Coordinator blog

“They do not want to leave their ancestral places, even if they go under,” said Jaap van Hierden. Jaap van Hierden, UN Resident Coordinator in Micronesia. Appointed by the Secretary-General as the first UN Resident Coordinator for the North Pacific, he oversees ongoing development efforts across a remote region with thousands of small islands comprising of […]

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EFF Submission to the Oversight Board on Posts That Include “From the River to the Sea”

As part of the Oversight Board’s consultation on the moderation of social media posts that include reference to the phrase “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” EFF recently submitted comments highlighting that moderation decisions must be made on an individualized basis because the phrase has a significant historical usage that is not […]

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Sunsetting Section 230 Will Hurt Internet Users, Not Big Tech 

As Congress appears ready to gut one of the internet’s most important laws for protecting free speech, they are ignoring how that law protects and benefits millions of Americans’ ability to speak online every day.   The House Energy and Commerce Committee is holding a hearing on Wednesday on a bill that would end Section 230 […]

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