New challenges to Internet freedom in Moldova in the context of current security risks were discussed at the round table held on July 19 in Chisinau, the capital of the Republic of Moldova. One of the topics that generated the most lively discussions was the recent legislative initiatives to regulate the information space, including the …
The legislative initiative to amend certain regulations aimed at ensuring the security of information space (draft to the Parliament of Republic of Moldova 123/2022) raises numerous questions in terms of maintaining a balance between freedom and security issues, as well as the use of formulations that can be interpreted ambiguously, which carries the risk of …
The Lawyers’ Committee For Human Rights (YUCOM) organized an online training “Digital Security of Human Rights Activists”, on April 18, 2022. While cyber-attacks are on the rise, many CSOs have unprotected data and insufficient cyber security protocols, making them vulnerable to data loss. To fight this, organizations must priorities enacting digital security best practices. The …
The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor published 2021 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices on April 12, 2022. The document provides a factual and objective record on the status of human rights worldwide – in 2021, covering 198 countries and territories. The section on Belarus paints a clear picture of abuses of peaceful …
The threat of splinternet (earlier referred to as balkanization of internet) has been envisaged and discussed for 20 years already. Today many anticipate turning the global internet into the network splintered into a collection of fragmented networks controlled by governments or corporations. Political Science News “Does Splinternet mean the end of the Internet?” 6/04/2022 described …
Wikipedia has always been extremely important for the Belarusian Internet audience as an encyclopedic reference resource. According to the Baltic Internet Policy Initiative, Wikipedia.org is one of the top 10 most visited websites in Belarus. The coverage of the computer audience is 23%, i.е. almost every fourth Belarusian Internet user. Today, the development of this …
In Moldova, as in many other countries, the search for a balanced form of online regulation continues. Currently, there are a number of conflicting trends in the regulation of the country’s online environment and the absence of a unified state policy in this area. Driven by fear of security risks, Moldovan authorities are increasingly attempting …
On March 22, 2022 Alexander Lukashenko signed a decree on internet news aggregators. The purpose of the document is “to improve the quality and accessibility of information provided to citizens through news aggregators, to ensure the protection of the interests of society and the state in this segment of the information space”. The decree obliges …
Persons with disabilities and special needs often face barriers that restrict them from participating in society on an equal basis, including the access to, and use of, information and communication technologies. These barriers include none or very little attention to incorporating accessibility features for online content (including websites), limited adaptability in the functionality of products …
Last month, Moldova hosted the second Internet Governance Forum (MIGF 2021), which took place in a hybrid format on October 19-20. The Forum, organized by the Association «Comunitatea Internet», became an international platform for an open dialogue between different stakeholder groups: civil society, technical and scientific community, private sector, government and public sector.