A Heartfelt Reflection on 2024: A Year in Review
As we wrap up 2024, we at Digitally Right Limited find ourselves filled with gratitude and pride. This year has been a journey of growth, learning, and resilience for us. It’s only because of the collective efforts of our small but mighty team, the trust of our partners, and the unwavering support of our community that we’ve come this far.
Celebrating Community: This year, we’ve been honored to strengthen connections within the digital rights community. Through 4 digital rights discussions, 4 civic tech and tech policy workshops, and 7 digital security training, we’ve had the privilege of engaging with 192 remarkable individuals, including CSOs, activists, and journalists. Collaborating with you has been one of the most fulfilling parts of our journey.
Key Highlights
We have three core initiatives that drive our work: Dismislab, Digital Safety School, and the Tech Policy Fellowship. Here is a snapshot of what we achieved this year.
Dismislab had an eventful year, actively addressing disinformation during a politically turbulent 2024 in Bangladesh. It produced 183 articles, 10 newsletters, and a comprehensive research paper. Dismislab’s work was featured in 117 national and international media reports, with one research article recognized by the Global Investigative Journalism Network as exemplary data journalism work for that week it was published in. Its analysis on monetization of disinformation on YouTube also received widespread attention underscoring its vital contributions and presented in several conferences.
Digital Safety School, launched this year to equip individuals and organizations with skills to counter digital threats, conducted 7 training sessions, empowering 81 journalists and advocates. Inspired by the work we did under the Greater Internet Freedom (GIF) project, we launched the school as one of our core programs to support at-risk communities navigating digital threats effectively. Organizations like Committee to Protect journalists, Embassy of Switzerland and ACOS Alliance stepped forward to support the first rounds of training. We are thankful! In collaboration with Swedish Fojo Media Institute and Embassy of Sweden in Dhaka, in the coming years, we envision a long term sustainability of the School offering enhanced support to the community with localized resources, audits and necessary tools.
Tech Policy Fellowship concluded its second iteration this year, uniting a talented cohort of 7 young professionals to tackle pressing tech-policy and digital rights issues, resulting in seven impactful research papers. Accessnow and Meta has been a supporter of the program with knowledge and resources but what made it more meaningful is participation of major digital rights experts and organizations in the region as training facilitator and research mentor. This helps us to build a community of practice on tech policy and digital rights issues and get the fellows connected with their regional and global counterparts. While it attempts to provide knowledge to a group of diverse professionals, this program is a source of immense learning for us.
Partnerships
Our partners have been at the heart of our growth this year. We are incredibly thankful to them for supporting us in our work. We wrapped up the fourth and final phase of the GIF project this year, to which Internews and EngageMedia have been key collaborators. This initiative empowered us to host workshops tailored for CSOs and NGOs focused on digital rights. It also provided an opportunity to train members of the Cyber Support for Women and Children platform, where DRL is an active member, working to protect women and children from online violence. Our ongoing collaboration with Internews on the PORCH Project has given us the opportunity to conduct a multi-country study across India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka to assess the digital rights landscape, policy awareness, and capacity-building needs within the region. As part of this project we also contributed to the development of a game which aims to educate the youth and the marginalized communities on digital safety and responsible online behaviour. Our partnership with the National Democratic Institute (NDI) has allowed us to advance awareness and adoption of Civic Technology in Bangladesh. Through targeted workshops, we engaged young tech professionals, fostering a network of skilled individuals dedicated to adopting and promoting CivicTech solutions effectively. Luminate and Association for Progressive Communication (APC) has been pivotal in advancing our research on misinformation and disinformation, driving impactful initiatives that address these pressing challenges.
This year, alongside our collaboration with organizations, we have engaged extensively with activists and representatives from CSOs and NGOs through various training, workshops, and discussions focused on digital rights. DRL successfully organized four Digital Rights Discussions, attended by 75 participants, including activists and CSO representatives, fostering meaningful dialogue and collaboration. We have also hosted a specialized training session for our eight Tech Policy Fellows, to broaden their understanding of global and local digital rights trends while addressing the challenges posed by state-level and platform-specific policies. Moreover, through our Civic Tech Workshop program, we reached 28 participants across three workshops, promoting awareness and encouraging the adoption of civic technology in Bangladesh. By the end of the year, our discussions, training, and workshops have made an impact on the lives of 111 individuals, of which 47% were women and 53% were men, reflecting our dedication to inclusivity and gender diversity, while maintaining a broad engagement across communities.
These collaborations have been instrumental in shaping our growth, enabling us to expand our reach, tackle complex challenges, and make meaningful contributions to the digital rights landscape.
Publications
Research is at the core of our work. In collaboration with the Media Resources Development Initiative (MRDI) and with support from The Asia Foundation (TAF), DRL published a study on the adoption of AI in Bangladeshi newsrooms. This study examines the current state of AI integration in the media sector, highlighting challenges, opportunities, and pathways for fostering innovation while promoting ethical use of technology in journalism.
Building on its commitment to advancing digital rights, DRL launched a policy brief series to address key priorities in Bangladesh, including digital inclusion, security, and freedom. Among these, a dedicated brief on AI Policy and Governance outlines critical considerations for establishing a framework that balances innovation with ethical safeguards and inclusivity.
Expanding networks
Digitally Right has proudly expanded its global reach by joining two esteemed initiatives: the Global Network Initiative (GNI) and the Sustainable Journalism Partnership. Our membership in GNI reaffirms our dedication to promoting freedom of expression and privacy rights in the digital age, while the Sustainable Journalism Partnership allows us to support sustainable journalism models, media literacy, and access to reliable information. These memberships mark significant milestones, providing platforms for advocacy, collaboration, and knowledge exchange to amplify our impact on the global stage.
This year, Digitally Right expanded its global presence by participating in 10 international forums and conferences. Notably, we attended training sessions on Digital Security and Rights Advocacy under the GIF Project and were part of five panels at Digital Rights Asia-Pacific Assembly (DRAPAC), represented by three of our team members.
Our participation extended to prominent events such as the Summit for Democracy, Meta Global Innovation & Policy Flyout, and Splice Beta among others. These engagements were invaluable learning opportunities and a testament to our growing influence. We are proud to see our organization thrive on international platforms and look forward to fostering further global connections.
Looking Forward
We step into 2025, with renewed determination. Our focus will be to foster the connections we have built along the way and expand the positive impact we’ve made in the digital rights community, and we can’t wait to see what we can accomplish together!
To our team: Thank you for showing up every day with passion and dedication. To our partners and community: Thank you for believing in us. Your trust and encouragement mean more than words can express.
Here’s to another year of learning, growing, and supporting each other!
