by digiright | Jul 28, 2024 | Our work, Updates
Promoting Digital Rights in Bangladesh is the first part of a four-part policy brief series initiated by Digitally Right. The primary objective of this initiative is to identify key digital rights priorities in the country, support civil society, industry and the government with relevant knowledge and insights, and promote collaborative, multi-stakeholder discussions.
As the initial installment of the series, this brief provides a broad overview of digital rights priorities, the contemporary policy landscape, needs, gaps, and potential areas for engagement through consultation with stakeholders, including local civil society and international organizations, along with comprehensive desk research. Subsequent briefs in the series will cover specific priority issues, examining content governance, internet access and shutdowns, and privacy and data protection.
by digiright | Jul 18, 2024 | Digital Security, Updates
As part of the Digital Safety School initiative, Digitally Right hosted two dynamic Digital Hygiene Trainings on June 22-23 and July 13-14, 2024. Co-sponsored by the SWISS Embassy of Dhaka, these sessions empowered participants with essential tools and strategies to enhance their online safety and digital well-being.
The target audience for both trainings was journalists from regional correspondents for news organizations or local news outlets outside of Dhaka. 12 participants from various news and media organizations attended the first training. Of the participants, 3 were female and 9 were male. 10 participants from various news and media organizations attended the second training. There were 3 female and 7 male participants. These training sessions were very pertinent and helpful for the group because they frequently deal with the greatest digital threats, issues, and security risks due to their line of work.
Both trainings followed a similar agenda and discussion topics. The first day began with an ice-breaking session where participants introduced themselves and shared the digital risks or threats they had encountered in their work. They were also asked about which digital safety methods or tools they employ to get a better understanding of their skill level.
After assessing each participant’s risk level and digital security knowledge, the training sessions began with an overview of common digital safety practices. This was followed by a session on online safety, which covered secure browsing techniques and ways to protect social media and internet service accounts. Participants also learned how to safeguard offline information and were introduced to data encryption tools for managing specific risks. In the afternoon, they explored tools for securely storing, transferring, and permanently deleting data, and the final session focused on best practices for capturing photos and videos—crucial skills for field reporters.
On the final day of the first training, two representatives from the SWISS Embassy attended, and participants shared feedback on what they had learned and how they planned to apply it in their work. The second training’s final day began with a recap of the previous day’s topics. Sessions then covered best practices for device and communication security, followed by lessons on identifying and protecting against phishing and malware. A fact-checking expert led the last session, teaching participants how to verify fake images and videos using advanced search and fact-checking tools. The training ended with a summary of key topics and a Q&A session.
Impact of the Training
Journalists face significant digital challenges and security risks, worsened by restrictive laws in the country. Since the inception of Digitally Right’s Digital Safety School it has made an impact in supporting journalists. The initiative aims to hold monthly training sessions for at-risk journalists across Bangladesh, depending on available funding. Candidates apply for each training session, and participants are selected based on these applications. Each training is tailored to the specific needs of the group—for instance, journalists outside Dhaka face greater risks and have fewer resources, so their sessions differ from those for journalists in the capital. In the current context, such training has become essential for journalists nationwide.
When asked about the training, one participant expressed their gratitude and shared, “Journalists who are working outside the Capital inherently are at more risk. Therefore, this training will be highly beneficial. I am very pleased with the training.”
One participant added, “Another colleague of mine had previously attended a digital safety training with Digitally Right and learned the use of the Tella app. While investigating a voting scam he had used the Tella app to take pictures at the polling station and when law enforcement coerced him to show the pictures in his gallery, they could not find anything. This not only saved him from facing severe consequences but he was also able to use the pictures taken using Tella on his story. I have learned a lot from this training myself and hope these learnings help me out in the future the same way it helped my colleague.”
by digiright | Jul 4, 2024 | Our work, Updates
The Digital Rights Advocacy training was a four day event organized by EngageMedia. The training was attended by participants from 7 different countries in the Asia Pacific region, namely – Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Maldives, Nepal, Philippines and Sri Lanka. During each of these sessions the organizers dealt with various aspects related to advocating for rights and at the same time encouraged the participants to share their own experiences in their respective countries.
The first day of the training consisted of introductions among the participants, organizers and the trainers followed by a rundown of the entire training design. Afterwards, the participants were asked to share the safety concerns related to advocating for digital rights in their respective countries. The session concluded with a discussion on the Three-Part Test, a three fold test that is used to determine the validity of a law. On the second day of the training the participants got to learn how to strategize our digital rights advocacy efforts and how to achieve engagement with government agencies. The third day of the training focused on engaging with the private sector including identifying how the private sector can contribute towards the fulfillment of digital rights and aligning the policy priorities of the private sector with digital rights advocacy. The fourth day of the training was a culmination of the learnings from the previous two days and working together for the feedback submission of the Internet We Want.
All four days of the training consisted of numerous interactive sessions and group works. During these group works the participants were divided into 2 groups and they had to come up with advocacy strategies for the various scenarios provided by the organizers. During these exercises the participants discussed the strategies that have worked in their own countries. The most eye opening part of the whole training was how similar the problems faced by all the countries were. For instance, all 7 participants could relate to their countries having laws that justified overbearing surveillance using national security. These group activities helped the participants identify common problems and exchange ideas and strategies that they have applied in their own countries. All in all it was a great network building initiative along with being a training program.
by digiright | Jul 3, 2024 | Digital Security, Our work, Updates
On the 8th of June 2024, Digitally Right organized a Workshop titled “Digital Security Workshop: Mitigating Online Gender Based Violence.” This event is part of the Greater Internet Freedom (GIF) project, a USAID-sponsored global program that stands as the largest global effort dedicated to advancing Internet freedom. Digitally Right partnered with Internews and EngageMedia in GIF in Bangladesh.
The Workshop was attended by 16 participants from various CSOs and gender rights activists. Among the 16 participants, 10 belong to the Cyber Support for Women and Children platform. This platform is an alliance of 13 organizations in total that safeguard women and children from violence online. As such, this Workshop was highly relevant and useful for the group. The other 6 participants belong to the OGNIE Foundation, a gender-focused non-profit organization based in Bangladesh.
The Workshop started with an ice breaking session. This workshop took a unique approach where the participants themselves were in charge of the discussion points. With the help of an interactive activity, the participants teamed up to identify the common issues women, in their experience, face online and pinpoint the topics that they want to learn about during the workshop. This activity revealed a concerning number of threats women face online which include revenge porn be it by means of having intimate pictures and videos being leaked without consent or having their pictures photoshopped to appear obscene, hacked social media accounts, identity theft, bullying and doxing.
Based on the threats identified, the participants dove into a session to learn about the risks associated with some common online practices and how to circumvent them. This was followed by a session on password management to avoid social media account hacking, the importance of activating 2 factor authentication, encrypted communication options and how to identify and bypass phishing attempts.
The workshop also included sessions on reporting and documenting harassing and bullying comments online as well as a session on how various apps track our activities on the phone and how to stop them. The last session on the Workshop consisted of a group activity where the participants were divided into groups of 4 and given 4 different scenarios on revenge porn, cyber bullying, identity theft and account hacking. Each group came up with a solution as to how they will handle each of the situations and presented in front of everyone else. This group activity helped everyone to connect and exchange ideas and strategies. The Workshop concluded with a summary of the entire day’s event.
by digiright | May 27, 2024 | Our work, Updates
Following its launch on May 5, 2024, Digital Safety School successfully held its very first 2-day Digital Hygiene Training from 18-19 May. The training was attended by 13 journalists stationed in different parts of Bangladesh. The two-day training started with learning about the basic do’s and don’ts of maintaining digital safety.
On the first day, the participants learned about account and browser security, data encryption tools and how to transfer and delete data securely and the best practices for capturing photos and videos on the ground. The second day of the training consisted of the participants learning about device and communication security, identifying malware and phishing attempts and the use of fact checking tools to identify fake images and videos. After each of these sessions, the participants were given the opportunity to practice the tool they learned about under the supervision of our security expert. This gave the participants more confidence about their capability to use the tools by themselves later on.
When the training concluded, one journalist expressed their gratitude for the opportunity and shared that, “During Covid-19, I would constantly watch videos on social media to learn about safe digital practices and although I was able to learn about the risks of the digital space, I was none the wiser about safe practices. By attending this training, I am now aware of the risks as well as how to protect myself from the threats.”
Another participant shared, “During the session on using fact-checking tools to identify fake images and videos, I thought that it would not be useful for me. But once the session ended I realized that the session was relevant for me and I did not even realize how much I needed it.”
