University of Sydney: New database documents rights abuses of 457 visa holders. “Dr Anna Boucher, immigration researcher in the Department of Government and International Relations and author of the new book Crossroads: Comparative Immigration Regimes in a World of Demographic Change, has developed a Migrant Worker Rights Database that codes all available legal decisions on migrant worker rights violations.”
human rights
Now Available! The Japanese American Internment Sites: A Digital Archive (Berkeley)
Berkeley: Now Available! The Japanese American Internment Sites: A Digital Archive. “The project builds upon two previous grants conducted between 2011-2017 to digitize 100,000 documents from the Japanese American Evacuation and Resettlement Study and 150,000 original items from Bancroft’s archival collections including the personal papers of internees, correspondence, extensive photograph collections, maps, artworks and audiovisual materials. Together, these collections bring the total number of digitized and publicly available items to about 400,000 and form one of the premier sources of digital documentation on Japanese American Confinement found anywhere.”
The Wire: Internet Taxes Could Stifle Africa’s Free and Vibrant Social Media
The Wire: Internet Taxes Could Stifle Africa’s Free and Vibrant Social Media. “The government of Benin has cancelled a recent decree that imposed a tax on users of platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp. Known as ‘over-the-top’ platforms, they can deliver media content directly to users without using traditional telecommunications infrastructure such as terrestrial broadcast or satellite signals. Local and international activists protested against the decree in Benin arguing that it was a blatant attack on the freedom of expression and net neutrality.”
Libraries and Archives Canada: How archives can protect human rights
Libraries and Archives Canada: How archives can protect human rights. “When asked to name one of Canada’s fundamental democratic institutions, how many people would immediately say ‘Library and Archives Canada’? Yet, a nation’s archives preserves in perpetuity the evidence of how we are governed. From the story of Japanese Canadian Redress, we can learn how records held by Library and Archives Canada (LAC)—combined with crucial citizen activism making use of these records—have contributed to holding the federal government accountable for now universally condemned actions.”
Engadget: Canada launches fund to guarantee faster broadband in rural areas
Engadget: Canada launches fund to guarantee faster broadband in rural areas. “Canada’s CRTC set an aggressive target for the minimum definition of broadband in rural areas, but now appears to have backed off a bit, at least to start. With the launch of the $750 million Broadband Fund, it has set the minimum speed at 25 Mbps download and 5 Mbps uploads, exactly half the speed target of 50/10 Mbps it set earlier.” The CRTC in this case is the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.
The Guardian: Police super-database prompts Liberty warning on privacy
The Guardian: Police super-database prompts Liberty warning on privacy. “A new super-database being built for the police represents a ‘grave’ risk to privacy, a leading human rights group has said. Liberty claims the government is glossing over concerns that the database, the largest built for British law enforcement, threatens civil liberties. The group fears it gives massive power to the state at the expense of millions of Britons.”
Africa Newsroom: In Ethiopia, mobile internet cut in the capital amid clashes and protests
Africa Newsroom: In Ethiopia, mobile internet cut in the capital amid clashes and protests. “The Committee to Protect Journalists today urged Ethiopian authorities to ensure internet is available, including during times of unrest when access to information provided by journalists is crucial. Mobile internet was unavailable in the capital Addis Abba, from September 17 to the morning of September 19 amid protests and clashes, according to media reports and Berhan Taye, who leads Access Now’s #KeepItOn campaign against internet shutdowns, which CPJ is part of.”
