**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE**
October 11, 2022
Contact: comms@rankingdigitalrights.org
Ranking Digital Rights Launches New Research Lab to Help Global Civil Society Groups Hold Big Tech Accountable
Washington, D.C. – Today, Ranking Digital Rights (RDR) is launching the RDR Research Lab, which will serve as a learning hub for researchers and advocates across the globe. It provides the tools necessary to implement and adapt RDR’s methodology and human rights standards in various local contexts to help keep digital platforms, telecommunication companies, and other digital service companies accountable for safeguarding the human and civil rights of users.
Since 2013, the RDR methodology has served as the gold standard for keeping Big Tech power in check. The RDR Corporate Accountability Index, including the Big Tech and Telco Giants scorecards, is the only open dataset on companies’ commitments and policies affecting users’ rights. Since this work began, many companies we rank have made significant improvements in their adherence to human rights principles and transparency. But, with growing threats to these rights stemming from disinformation, surveillance advertising, as well as network shutdowns and internet censorship, among others, much work remains. These threats are amplified in the majority world where, for too long, tech companies have taken advantage of information asymmetries to further neglect user rights, resulting in well-known instances of violent unrest and human rights violations.
Civil society organizations around the world have been inspired by RDR and have used our standards to push technology companies toward greater respect and protection of people’s rights to both privacy and freedom of expression. Between 2016 and 2021, nine research reports were published that adapted RDR’s methodology in Pakistan, India, Kenya, Senegal, Russia, the Arab region, New York City, Iran, and Ukraine.
In 2021, RDR began providing direct guidance and technical assistance to civil society organizations. Since then, new research has been published, with RDR’s direct guidance, in Lesotho, Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Cambodia, Indonesia, Maldives, Nepal, Philippines, and Sri Lanka. With the support of the Research Lab, RDR will expand the network of researchers and advocates using RDR’s methodology to hold tech power to account.
RDR Global Partnerships Manager Leandro Ucciferri says:
New apps and digital services are entering the market at unprecedented rates, thanks both to local tech companies and global monopolies like Amazon and Meta. These services have permeated many facets of our lives, but as they become increasingly intertwined with the way we interact with society around us, a lack of accountability means that they also pose serious threats to our rights. The collection of troves of our personal data by companies with opaque, if any, policies for safeguarding it should worry us all. This trend jeopardizes everything from our right to reproductive health care to the integrity of our electoral systems. And it is that much worse outside of the regulatory environments of Europe and the United States, where even greater negligence of human rights standards has resulted in gross violations.
It is therefore imperative that we bring increased scrutiny to as many corners of the tech industry as possible. RDR has provided, and will continue to provide, the standards needed to measure whether tech company policies respect the human rights of their users. In the years to come, the Research Lab will therefore have a key role to play in helping to grow a successful global tech accountability movement.
Media contact: comms@rankingdigitalrights.org
Ranking Digital Rights is an independent tech research and policyprogram at New America in Washington, D.C. RDR ranks leading tech and telecom companies on their publicly disclosed policies and practices affecting users’ freedom of expression and privacy.
Learn more about Ranking Digital Rights:
Our website: http://rankingdigitalrights.org
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