As we settle into the new year, RDR and its Index continue to make the news.
Rebecca MacKinnon wrote an op-ed for CNN arguing that as technology companies face greater pressure to monitor and censor communication, we risk losing the ability to use such platforms for social justice, activism, and journalism. Priya Kumar wrote the lead article for the January 28th edition of New America Weekly, which describes how RDR’s Index helps foster greater corporate accountability among ICT companies. And in a piece for Slate, Priya drew on the latest academic research and the Index results to highlight what’s lacking from company privacy policies. Nathalie Maréchal wrote a paper about RDR for a special issue of The Fibreculture Journal focused on activism and technology.
Screenshot of Public Radio International’s story on digital rights
Other media outlets and advocacy organizations continued to interview RDR team members and draw on the Index results. Rebecca MacKinnon was quoted in an Atlantic article about American Internet companies doing business in China. The Public Radio International program, “Whose Century Is it?” did a piece on digital rights that highlighted Rebecca’s work in the space, including RDR. An interview with Rebecca (conducted two years ago) was featured in the documentary Facebookistan, released late last year. The film focuses on efforts to get companies such as Facebook to respect users’ rights to freedom of expression and privacy. The title comes from a term Rebecca coined in her book, “Consent of the Networked.” The civic news outlet CivSource quoted Rebecca about an open letter signed by more than 170 organizations and individuals in support of strong encryption. And in a blog post about Internet shutdowns in Egypt and Morocco, AccessNow cited Etisalat’s poor performance in RDR’s Index.
