U.S. Department of State and Inter-American Development Bank Collaborate on Semiconductor Initiative in the Western Hemisphere

Today, to bolster semiconductor production capabilities across the Western Hemisphere, the U.S. Department of State, in collaboration with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), has unveiled the CHIPS ITSI Western Hemisphere Semiconductor Initiative.  This groundbreaking initiative, supported through the CHIPS Act International Technology Security and Innovation (ITSI) Fund, enhances semiconductor assembly, testing, and packaging (ATP) capabilities […]

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Journalists Sue Massachusetts TV Corporation Over Bogus YouTube Takedown Demands

BOSTON—A citizen journalists’ group represented by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed a federal lawsuit today against a Massachusetts community-access television company for falsely convincing YouTube to take down video clips of city government meetings. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts by Channel 781, an association of citizen journalists founded […]

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Digital Apartheid in Gaza: Unjust Content Moderation at the Request of Israel’s Cyber Unit

This is part one of an ongoing series.  Government involvement in content moderation raises serious human rights concerns in every context. Since October 7, social media platforms have been challenged for the unjustified takedowns of pro-Palestinian content—sometimes at the request of the Israeli government—and a simultaneous failure to remove hate speech towards Palestinians. More specifically, […]

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Launch of Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity’s Semiconductor Workforce Symposium: Expanding the Supplier Ecosystem

On July 17,2024, Secretary Blinken announced at the America’s Partnership for Economic Prosperity Ministerial the U.S. Department of State and Mexico’s Secretariat of Economy would host the Americas Partnership Semiconductor Symposium:  Expanding the Supplier Ecosystem on September 5-6, 2024, in Mexico City.  The Symposium will focus on expanding and diversifying the semiconductor assembly, testing, and […]

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Electronic Frontier Foundation to Present Annual EFF Awards to Carolina Botero, Connecting Humanity, and 404 Media

SAN FRANCISCO—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is honored to announce that Carolina Botero, Connecting Humanity, and 404 Media will receive the 2024 EFF Awards for their vital work in ensuring that technology supports freedom, justice, and innovation for all people.   The EFF Awards recognize specific and substantial technical, social, economic, or cultural contributions in diverse […]

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Briefing: Negotiating States Must Address Human Rights Risks in the Proposed UN Surveillance Treaty

At a virtual briefing today, experts from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), Access Now, Derechos Digitales, Human Rights Watch, and the International Fund for Public Interest Media outlined the human rights risks posed by the proposed UN Cybercrime Treaty. They explained that the draft convention, instead of addressing core cybercrimes, is an extensive surveillance treaty […]

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Fight against global hunger set back 15 years, warns UN report

“The bottom line is that we are still far off-track towards the goal of ridding the world of hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition by 2030,” said Maximo Torero, Chief Economist at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), in reference to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and specifically SDG 2: Zero Hunger. Mr. Torero noted […]

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Vietnam Approves Direct Power Purchase Agreement – A Win for Clean Energy

The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Energy Resources (ENR) applauds the Government of Vietnam’s approval on July 3 of the “Decree on the Direct Power Purchase Agreement (DPPA),” a significant milestone towards achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. This policy, championed by both domestic and international private sector companies and investors, establishes clear mechanisms for […]

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Media Briefing: EFF, Partners Warn UN Member States Are Poised to Approve Dangerous International Surveillance Treaty

SAN FRANCISCO—On Wednesday, July 24, at 11:00 am Eastern Time (8:00 am Pacific Time, 5:00 pm CET), experts from Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), Access Now, Derechos Digitales, Human Rights Watch, and the International Fund for Public Interest Media will brief reporters about the imminent adoption of a global surveillance treaty that threatens human rights around […]

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Supreme Court Dodges Key Question in Murthy v. Missouri and Dismisses Case for Failing to Connect The Government’s Communication to Specific Platform Moderation

We don’t know a lot more about when government jawboning social media companies—that is, attempting to pressure them to censor users’ speech— violates the First Amendment; but we do know that lawsuits based on such actions will be hard to win. In Murthy v. Missouri, the U.S. Supreme Court did not answer the important First […]

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