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Access Now
@accessnow.org
810 followers 47 following 170 posts
We defend and extend the digital rights of people and communities at risk 🌎.
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New year, same fight.
Digital authoritarianism keeps rising. So are we.

Your support fuels the fight for digital rights ▶️ accessnow.org/donate
Our 2026 resolutions include... -Defend privacy -Protect freedom of expression -Keep the internet open + secure -Fight the good fight
January 5, 2026 at 7:00 AM
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Surveillance, censorship, and internet shutdowns — 2025 was a(nother) tough year for human rights. Let’s fight to make 2026 a better one.

Your support helps us keep defending digital rights, protecting activists, and pushing back against authoritarianism. accessnow.org/donate
Text says: From Palestine to Myanmar, digital dictators are silencing voices, spreading disinformation, and crushing dissent. Your support helps us keep defending digital rights for all. Fund the good fight — donate today
December 29, 2025 at 8:00 AM
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This holiday season, stand with those defending freedom online.

Your support helps us keep defending digital rights across the globe.

Fund the good fight — donate today: www.accessnow.org/donate
December 24, 2025 at 7:00 AM
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Companies deploy AI tools very differently across markets. How fast –and how safely– they roll out new tools often depend on how much the existing regulations in respective jurisdictions lets them get away with.
Different standards,different markets Companies deploy AI tools very differently across markets. How fast –and how safely– they roll out new tools often depend on how much the existing regulations in respective jurisdictions lets them get away with. Take Meta AI on Whatsapp: its launch was delayed in the EU due to regulatory intervention by the Irish Data Protection Commission, and even then the feature came with restrictions on data collection and processing. The technology, meanwhile, was deployed in other regions with little to no notice and a complicated opt out process. Can data protection frameworks fix human rights gaps in AI? Partially. While good data protection laws are necessary, the risks presented by innovation and adoption in AI far outweigh the risks envisioned by most data protection frameworks. For instance, some data protection legislations –like EU GDPR’s article 22 and South Africa POPIA’s section 71– include rules for AI, especially Automated Decision Making systems (ADMs). But some of these provisions set a low standard of duty for data collection and processing, limiting the real protection they might offer. To truly safeguard people from the worst risks of AI development, we need strong, actionable data protection rights: such as meaningful consent, and a real enforcement of existing principles, including purpose limitation. It’s not a silver bullet, but it can help prevent predatory data scraping, unlawful third party access to personal data, and discriminatory data backed automated processing– and give people autonomy over the decisions and predictions made about them.
December 22, 2025 at 6:45 PM
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AI is expanding fast — and so are the risks to human rights.

To truly safeguard people from the worst risks of AI development, we need strong, actionable data protection rights.

Here’s what you need to know ⬇️
Title: The relationship between AI and data protection Subheading: AI is expanding fast — and so are the risks to human rights. Here’s what you need to know ▶️ Everybody wants to talk about machine learning 👀 Machine learning is an approach where systems are trained on huge amounts of data to recognise patterns without explicit instructions. Today’s AI boom comes from advances in large language models (LLMs) – the tech behind ChatGPT, Gemini, Deepseek or Claude – trained on massive datasets that allow them not only to recognise patterns, but also generate content. Because machine learning relies on collecting enormous amounts of data, it is vital that robust data protection provisions are established to protect people’s rights. How is AI putting people’s rights at risk? Governments worldwide are increasingly deploying AI-backed surveillance – like predictive policing and facial recognition technologies– in the name of national security. Many are also adopting automated decision making systems for the provision of social welfare. These put people at various levels of risk. Tech companies' AI use raises similar data protection concerns, especially for vulnerable communities The dating app Bumble, for instance, faces a complaint in Austria due to their sharing of users’ chat history with OpenAI, in order to facilitate their new ‘AI icebreakers’ feature. EFF has raised the alarm on other dating apps like Grindr with their planned AI wingman launch.
December 22, 2025 at 6:45 PM
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@VOICE_Updates, Bangladesh

VOICE focuses on building the capacity of journalists and human rights defenders, particularly women human rights defenders and youth activists, by providing training on digital safety, human rights-based reporting, and privacy and data protection. ⬇️
VOICE 📍 Bangladesh VOICE focuses on building the capacity of journalists and human rights defenders, particularly women human rights defenders and youth activists, by providing training on digital safety, human rights-based reporting, and privacy and data protection. These activities have established VOICE as a leader on media freedom, digital rights, and online safety, strengthening the digital ecosystem. Access Now has been supporting their vital work for two years. How do you help? “For many of the journalists, activists, and human rights defenders we work with, particularly women, women entrepreneurs, Indigenous communities, LGBTQ+ individuals, and people living in rural or semi-urban areas, digital rights violations are deeply personal threats to their livelihoods and safety”.
December 15, 2025 at 6:47 PM
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@kryssnetwork, Malaysia

KRYSS Network works with young people on issues of freedom of opinion and expression, focused on girls, women, and gender non-conforming individuals. ⬇️ 🧵
KRYSS Network 📍 Malaysia KRYSS Network works with young people on issues of freedom of opinion and expression, focused on girls, women, and gender non-conforming individuals. Access Now has been supporting their vital work for five years. How do you help? “KRYSS began as a voluntary collective that is passionate about creating safer spaces for young people who are too often denied opportunities to participate in social activism or dismissed for being considered ‘too young.’ (...) Our focus is on promoting safer online spaces for these marginalized communities, so they feel able to better express their lived realities and experiences, share their opinions, and disclose any human rights violations they have suffered, without experiencing harassment and online violence.”
December 15, 2025 at 6:47 PM
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@NubianRights, Kenya

Via community-led advocacy and strategic litigation efforts, they work to dismantle systemic barriers facing Kenya’s most marginalized communities, especially members of the Nubian ethnic minority. ⬇️ 🧵
Nubian Rights Forum 📍Kenya Via community-led advocacy and strategic litigation efforts, Nubian Rights Forum works to dismantle systemic barriers facing Kenya’s most marginalized communities, especially members of the Nubian ethnic minority, with a focus on citizenship, statelessness, and land rights. Access Now has been supporting their vital work for five years. How do you help? “Digital rights aren't just about access to technology; they're fundamental rights to exist within a system that recognizes your humanity. We walk alongside some of Kenya's most historically marginalized communities, especially members of the Nubian community, who remain largely invisible in the eyes of the state. (...) Digital identity and statelessness are incredibly complex, intersectional issues that aren't always headline-grabbing, yet they profoundly affect people's ability to access almost every other right.”
December 15, 2025 at 6:47 PM
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@Haki_na_Sheria, Kenya

Haki na Sheria works to end systemic discrimination against marginalized communities in Northern Kenya, with a focus on statelessness and digital ID, legal and digital invisibility, and biometric purgatory. 🧵 ⬇️
Haki na Sheria 📍Kenya Haki na Sheria works to end systemic discrimination against marginalized communities in Northern Kenya, with a focus on statelessness and digital ID, legal and digital invisibility, and biometric purgatory. Access Now has been supporting their vital work for six years. How do you help? “Northern Kenyans and Muslims across Kenya still face extra vetting, scrutiny, and suspicion when applying for national ID cards. Yet despite this, work at the intersection of digital ID, minority rights, and statelessness remains underfunded, and the communities most impacted are politically marginalized. To address this gap, we build community-based paralegal models, document real-life incidents and impacts of exclusion, and use community organizing, public advocacy, and strategic litigation to make change a reality.”
December 15, 2025 at 6:47 PM
accessnow.org
10 years ago, we launched the Grants Program with a simple idea: when digital rights defenders are under attack, they deserve rapid, trusted support.

The “Community Defenders” are grounded in lived experience, and driven by the needs and aspirations of their people. 🧵 ⬇️ ️
TITLE: Access Now Grants: Meet the Community Defenders SUBTITLE: Access Now 10 years “Community Defenders” are grant recipients whose work is grounded in lived experience, accountable to their communities, and driven by the needs and aspirations of their people. Rooted in broader struggles for justice, equity, and self-determination, their digital rights activism emerges from the necessity to protect and advance their communities in the digital sphere, as part of their ongoing fight for freedom and safety, and we support them in that pursuit. Get to know them ▶️
December 15, 2025 at 6:47 PM
accessnow.org
Across conflict zones, internet shutdowns are used as a tactic of war.

Based on testimonies from Gaza and Sudan, our new report shows how shutdowns inflict psychological, economic, political, and societal damage.

Read the report ➡️ www.accessnow.org/publication/...
In the photo: sketch in shades of brown, red, and white depicting people attempting to use their mobile devices inside their homes, which also resemble labyrinths.
December 11, 2025 at 8:36 PM
accessnow.org
Today on Human Rights Day, we’re reminded that the struggle for human rights now extends into the digital world.

Protecting digital rights is part of protecting each other — and building a future where everyone can live, speak, and participate with freedom and dignity!
December 10, 2025 at 10:02 AM
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Sursiendo, Mexico

Sursiendo works at the intersection of activism, free software and culture, and grassroots education, to support organizations fighting for climate and environmental justice, and defending the rights of Indigenous, migrant, and disappeared people.
Sursiendo 📍Mexico Sursiendo works at the intersection of activism, alternative media and design, free software and culture, and grassroots education, to support organizations fighting for climate and environmental justice, and defending the rights of Indigenous, migrant, and disappeared people. Access Now has been supporting their vital work for eight years How do you help? “Human rights defenders and social organizations in Mexico and across Central America are vulnerable on two levels. Firstly, they experience systemic violence, racism, misogyny, territorial exclusion, and limited access to justice; and secondly, they face digital barriers such as poor infrastructure, limited access to technology, insufficient digital literacy, and high-security risks (...) Supporting them in exercising their digital rights is vital to sustain their struggles and their ways of life.” – Sursiendo
December 8, 2025 at 7:05 PM
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DIG/SEC Initiative, Uganda

DIG/SEC Initiative provides digital safety and security technical assistance and support to at-risk grassroots journalists, activists, and human rights defenders.
DIG/SEC Initiative 📍 Uganda DIG/SEC Initiative provides digital safety and security technical assistance and support to at-risk grassroots journalists, activists, and human rights defenders. Access Now has been supporting their vital work for six years. How do you help? “We aim to enhance the capacity of human rights defenders and activists to overcome the digital security and safety challenges that they face daily because of their work. This includes supporting the most resilient, yet under-supported grassroots communities in Uganda, who are too often left alone to navigate any digital rights issues they face, despite the fact that these can sometimes be a matter of life-or-death.” – DIG/SEC Initiative
December 8, 2025 at 7:05 PM
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@vitaactivaorg.bsky.social, Chile

Vita Activa is a helpline for journalists, activists, human rights defenders, women, and LGBTQ+ people facing online gender-based violence (OGBV), trauma, and burnout in Latin America and beyond. 🧵 ⬇️
Vita Activa 📍 Chile Vita Activa is a helpline for journalists, activists, human rights defenders, women, and LGBTQ+ people facing online gender-based violence (OGBV), trauma, and burnout in Latin America and beyond. Access Now has been supporting their vital work for six years. How do you help? “Online and off, people are surveilled, hacked, harassed, and silenced — because when your voice challenges power, the internet can become a dangerous place. They are made more vulnerable by the fact that many basic emotional and digital security practices are inaccessible (...) This is the gap we aim to fill, with culturally sensitive tools, empathetic listening, and training that meet them where they are.” – Vita Activa
December 8, 2025 at 7:05 PM
accessnow.org
10 years ago, we launched the Grants Program with a simple idea: when digital rights defenders are under attack, they deserve rapid, trusted support.

Today we introduce the “Digital First Aiders” — local experts helping journalists, activists, and communities stay safe. 🧵 ⬇️
TITLE: Access Now Grants: Meet the Digital First Aiders SUBTITLE: Access Now 10 years The “Digital First Aiders” grantees offer digital security and safety support to journalists, activists, and human rights defenders in their communities, delivered with cultural awareness only local experts can provide. They represent the foundation for grassroots civil society — without their work, privacy and security crumbles, leaving everyone vulnerable to attack.
December 8, 2025 at 7:05 PM
accessnow.org
In this report, we examine how digital advertising is used to push war-related messaging and what international human rights law says about it.

The report also exposes major gaps in platform policies that leave people at risk.

Read the full report: accessnow.org/online-ads-w...
Baige cover, a phone icon with war planes and a text with red background says: War profiteers: Online ads and the machinery of propaganda for war Access Now logo
December 3, 2025 at 10:00 AM
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NEW REPORT: War propaganda 2.0 is evolving. Targeted digital ads now influence every moment during conflict, often normalizing violence and justifying abuses.

Our new report reveals how online ads fuel these harms and why this demands urgent attention. 🧵▶️
Social Media can't keep profiting from war propaganda!
December 3, 2025 at 10:00 AM
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Surveillance, censorship, and internet shutdowns — 2025 was a(nother) tough year for human rights.

We will continue to defend the right to connect, communicate, and stay safe online. Let's do it together. Fund the good fight — donate to Access Now. ⬇️ www.accessnow.org/donate
Dont let digital dictators decide the future of the internet. Fund the good fight Donate to Access Now
November 26, 2025 at 5:38 PM
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Ten years ago, Access Now’s Grants Program was born from a simple idea:

When digital rights defenders are under attack, they deserve rapid, flexible, and trusted support.

Here’s what that decade looks like 🔽🧵
ACCESS NOW GRANTS 10 YEARS From Grassroots to Global A DECADE OF STANDING WITH DIGITAL DEFENDERS Access Now marks 10 years of grassroots giving
November 24, 2025 at 3:40 PM
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Don’t let dictators decide the future of the internet. Fund the good fight — donate to Access Now today.

Find more information: www.accessnow.org/donate
November 20, 2025 at 12:45 PM
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At Access Now, we defend and extend the digital rights of people and communities at risk, everywhere.

Learn more about our work: accessnow.org
Access Now: a digital rights love story A tale about people, power, and keeping the internet open for all Access Now logo. A book, a lock and a hands lens Who we are Access Now is an international nonprofit defending and extending the digital rights of people and communities at risk worldwide. We were founded in 2009 during the Iranian elections, when people came together online and in the streets to rally against human rights abuses. What began as an emergency response team helping activists get back online after the regime cut them off has grown into a global movement defending digital rights everywhere. What we stand for From battling internet shutdowns to opposing harmful spyware, we work at the intersection of human rights and technology. We fight censorship and surveillance, and advocate for free expression, privacy, transparency, and safe, open digital spaces. Our mission is simple: to ensure technology strengthens human rights and safeguards democracy, instead of dismantling it. From grassroots to global Our work is rooted in communities around the world and carried to the global stage. We partner with local activists and movements to bring a human rights agenda to the use, development, and governance of digital technologies, and to intervene where technologies adversely impact human rights. Each region drives its priorities and feeds into a global effort to protect and extend digital rights.
November 20, 2025 at 12:45 PM
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Surveillance, censorship, internet shutdowns — the attacks on our freedoms keep growing. Don’t let digital dictators decide the future of the internet.

Fund the good fight, donate to Access Now ➡️ www.accessnow.org/donate
November 18, 2025 at 7:01 AM
accessnow.org
When we defend digital rights, we defend our right to exist, resist, and be heard — both online and off.

Visit our website to learn more about your digital rights and how to defend them ➡️ www.accessnow.org
Technology is not neutral — it mirrors power. Those of us who are already targeted and oppressed experience the harshest digital realities. For example: Women and LGBTQ+ people face online harassment and doxxing. Journalists and activists are targeted with spyware for doing their jobs. Marginalized people and migrants are tracked through biometric systems. It’s not only about access, but about whose rights are protected and whose are ignored. The question is no longer whether technology affects human rights — it’s how we fight back to make sure they are upheld. We need policies, platforms, and people like YOU who center human rights, not control or profit. Digital spaces are battlegrounds to advance human rights. When we defend digital rights, we defend our right to exist, resist, and be heard — both online and off. Visit our website to learn more about your digital rights and how to defend them.
November 10, 2025 at 1:31 PM
accessnow.org
Digital rights are everyone’s business — including yours.

From surveillance to shutdowns, our human rights online are under attack every day.

Learn more on our website: www.accessnow.org
Digital rights are everyone’s business — including yours! From mass surveillance that decimates our privacy to internet shutdowns that silence us, our human rights online are constantly under threat. This is why safeguarding digital rights isn’t optional — it’s essential for justice, democracy, and dignity in the digital age. First… what are digital rights? Digital rights are the same human rights we all have — in digital spaces. They protect how we can express ourselves, access information, and safeguard our privacy in the digital age. They include: Freedom of expression Privacy and data protection Protest and online organizing If you use the internet and participate in our increasingly digital world, these rights are YOUR business. Almost every aspect of our lives now depends on digital technology. Without digital rights, our basic freedoms collapse. When governments shut down the internet, communities lose their voice. When companies harvest our data, our privacy vanishes. When algorithms decide what we see, democracy is distorted. Protecting digital rights means defending our ability to speak, connect, and participate freely in our societies.
November 10, 2025 at 1:31 PM