Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

✨🌈 Home of Digital Rights Defenders @teamcommunity.bsky.social · 1d

Dash Chat is a secure messenger that runs on regular internet, internet
shutdowns, and bridges between them. Join them on October 29 to see an app demo, ask questions about how it works, and how to get involved. Note, the app is in pre-alpha.
Register:

ICD Session RSVP - Dash Chat (Oct 29, 2025)

Join us on Wednesday, October 29 at 11am ET / 4pm CET (or check your time zone here) for an online session to learn about Dash Chat, a new shutdown-resilient secure messaging tool! Dash Chat is a…

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✨🌈 Home of Digital Rights Defenders @teamcommunity.bsky.social · 1d

We have added a new section for emergency grants and relocation/resettlement support for defenders to our fundraising opportunities page on the TCU wiki. Have an opportunity you want to list, send it our way!

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John Scott-Railton @jsrailton.bsky.social · 2d

NEW: Pegasus spyware coming to America?

An ex-Adam Sandler producer with ties to China is trying to acquire NSO Group.

Again.

Simonds fronted this before in 2023 & failed. But the backers haven't given up. Why?

Where is the money coming from? 1/

www.globes.co.il/news/article...

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✨🌈 Home of Digital Rights Defenders @teamcommunity.bsky.social · 2d

According to PC Magazine, these are the top 10 invasive apps that are harvesting your location, contacts, and photos. See the full list here: www.pcmag.com/explainers/t...

Reposted by ✨🌈 Home of Digital Rights Defenders

Etienne - Tek @tek.randhome.io · 2d

NSO to be acquired by U.S. investors, ending Israeli control of Pegasus maker | Ctech https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/s1jgvmitgx

NSO to be acquired by U.S. investors, ending Israeli control of Pegasus maker | CTech

Hollywood producer Robert Simonds leads the deal, subject to Israeli and U.S. regulatory review.

www.calcalistech.com

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Reposted by ✨🌈 Home of Digital Rights Defenders

Mary Grace🕷️🕸️🎃👻 🍂🍁🍎 @emgeekay.bsky.social · 2d

This is why archives need funding support. There is knowledge in analogue media that we are racing against time to preserve.

#digipres #archives #library #DigitalPreservation 📚

www.bbc.com/future/artic...

A digital dark age? The people rescuing forgotten knowledge trapped on old floppy disks

From lectures by Stephen Hawking to the letters of British politician Neil Kinnock – it's a race against time to save the historical treasures locked away on old floppy disks.

www.bbc.com

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Reposted by ✨🌈 Home of Digital Rights Defenders

404 Media @404media.co · 3d

BREAKING: A catastrophic breach has impacted Discord user data including selfies and identity documents uploaded as part of the app’s verification process, email addresses, phone numbers, approximately where the user lives, and much more.

🔗 www.404media.co/the-discord-...

The Discord Hack is Every Users’ Worst Nightmare

A hack impacting Discord’s age verification process shows in stark terms the risk of tech companies collecting users’ ID documents. Now the hackers are posting peoples’ IDs and other sensitive informa...

www.404media.co

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The New York Times @nytimes.com · 3d

Breaking News: The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to María Corina Machado, a Venezuelan opposition leader, for her work promoting democracy.

María Corina Machado Is Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize: Live Updates and Video

The Norwegian Nobel Committee praised “her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela.”

nyti.ms

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OpenArchive @openarchive.bsky.social · 3d

Who controls your archives?

Decentralized web (DWeb) storage offers communities new ways to preserve and verify mobile media.

Explore what’s possible, and what trade-offs to weigh, in our new white paper: smplu.link/TMD0z

In partnership with @hypha.coop, with support from @ffdweb.org 💜

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✨🌈 Home of Digital Rights Defenders @teamcommunity.bsky.social · 3d

4/4

- Project Director, Speech Privacy & Technology, @aclu.org
- Technology for Liberty Fellow, ACLU of Massachusetts
- Technology Policy Associate, American Association of People with Disabilities

View all jobs here: www.digitalrights.community/job-board

✨🌈 Home of Digital Rights Defenders @teamcommunity.bsky.social · 3d

3/4

- Associate for Resilient Tech, The Engine Room
- EU Policy and Research Officer (Security, Surveillance, & - Human Rights) CDT
- Campaign Director, Institute of Free Technology
- Managing Director, The Public Knowledge Project

View all jobs here: www.digitalrights.community/job-board

Find a Job | Digital Rights Job Board

The Digital Rights Job Board has opportunities in over 144+ countries at the intersection of human rights, technology and social justice. Kickstart your tech and human rights career, find a social jus...

www.digitalrights.community

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✨🌈 Home of Digital Rights Defenders @teamcommunity.bsky.social · 3d

2/4 Digital Rights Jobs this week:
- Finance Manager, Paradigm Initiative
- Policy Counsel, Freepress
- Senior Project Manager Boxtribute
- Content Creator - Social Media Specialist, ASL19

View all jobs here: www.digitalrights.community/job-board

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✨🌈 Home of Digital Rights Defenders @teamcommunity.bsky.social · 3d

This week's Digital Rights Job Board roundup. To see this and other jobs at the at the intersection of technology, human rights, and social justice, visit: lnkd.in/gh9MUc5u

Because of space limitation, the 12+ jobs posted in thread of this post.

This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn

lnkd.in

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✨🌈 Home of Digital Rights Defenders @teamcommunity.bsky.social · 7d

A major vote is planned for 13 or 14 October in the EU. Governments will decide whether to endorse or reject a mass surveillance, encryption-breaking and anonymity-ending law: the EU CSA Regulation.

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✨🌈 Home of Digital Rights Defenders @teamcommunity.bsky.social · 8d

Vodafone said it had made the world's first video call via satellite using a standard smartphone from a remote location, and it plans to roll out the technology for its users across Europe later this year and in 2026. buff.ly/r9fKrFo

✨🌈 Home of Digital Rights Defenders @teamcommunity.bsky.social · 8d

Leaders across the political spectrum are calling on American tech firms to stop selling surveillance equipment to Chinese police and for Congress to examine the issue after the AP reported that U.S. tech had played a far greater role than known in enabling human rights abuses.

Lawmakers and activists call for action after AP reveals US tech role in China's surveillance state

Lawmakers and activists are urging U.S. tech firms to stop selling surveillance equipment to Chinese police.

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✨🌈 Home of Digital Rights Defenders @teamcommunity.bsky.social · 9d

By 2029, all UK workers will need digital identity cards, which will live on their mobile phones and become a mandatory check for employers hiring staff. These ID cards will also be necessary to access services such as tax records, childcare, and welfare.

UK's digital ID cards: Immigration crackdown or privacy threat? | Context by TRF

All British workers will need digital identity cards by the end of this parliament. What are the benefits and concerns?

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✨🌈 Home of Digital Rights Defenders @teamcommunity.bsky.social · 9d

Microsoft has ended the use of some of its Azure Cloud storage tech by the Israeli military Unit 8200 in mass surveillance of Palestinians following a joint investigation by the Guardian, Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine and the Hebrew-language media outlet Local Call. buff.ly/qtNrTFp

Update on ongoing Microsoft review - Microsoft On the Issues

Brad Smith, Vice Chair & President, shared the below communication with Microsoft employees this morning. I want to let you know that Microsoft has ceased and disabled a set of services to a unit…

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✨🌈 Home of Digital Rights Defenders @teamcommunity.bsky.social · 9d

Grant deadlines fast approaching: Civic Innovation Fund – Oct 20; WSA Young Innovators Award – Oct 31; ACLS Digital Justice Grants – Nov 20; AI Reporting Grant – Dec 31
👉 More opportunities: buff.ly/eePuaP4

Fundraising Opportunities - TCU Wiki

Do you have a funding opportunity you want to share? Send it to us using our simple online form. We will post it here and in Weekly Digital Rights Newsletter. Make sure to sign up!

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✨🌈 Home of Digital Rights Defenders @teamcommunity.bsky.social · 10d

Also just added today: Campaign Director, Institute of Free Technology, and Programmes Weaver, Numun Fund

✨🌈 Home of Digital Rights Defenders @teamcommunity.bsky.social · 10d

⚠️ Internet Shutdowns in Africa have doubled in less than a decade, plunging millions into digital darkness. Ethiopia, Sudan, and Algeria top the list, with over 193 shutdowns in 8 years.

Q&A-Africa's internet shutdowns double in less than a decade | Context by TRF

Internet shutdowns doubled across Africa since 2016, with governments using blackouts to control information and suppress dissent

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✨🌈 Home of Digital Rights Defenders @teamcommunity.bsky.social · 10d

🎪 Mark your calendars for upcoming digital rights events!
Oct 14 | EFF: How Surveillance Targets Women & Gender-Queer People (Washington State) buff.ly/3uxAQ47
Oct 29–31 | Bread&Net (Beirut) buff.ly/gOKwVmU

How Surveillance Targets Women and Gender-Queer People

EFF will host this event at the University of Washington. How Surveillance Targets Women and Gender-Queer PeopleJoin us for "How Surveillance Targets Women and Gender-Queer People" at the University…

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✨🌈 Home of Digital Rights Defenders @teamcommunity.bsky.social · 10d

This week's Digital Rights Job Board roundup. To see these and other jobs visit: buff.ly/kdeppG4 - Part-Time System Admin, @apc.org (Remote); Full Stack Developer, McGovern Foundation (Remote, USA); Senior Technologist, @knightgtown.bsky.social (DC or remote); Digital Ethicist, IKEA (Sweden)

Find a Job | Digital Rights Job Board

The Digital Rights Job Board has opportunities in over 144+ countries at the intersection of human rights, technology and social justice. Kickstart your tech and human rights career, find a social…

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✨🌈 Home of Digital Rights Defenders @teamcommunity.bsky.social · 12d

A new study reveals that virtual private network (#VPN) connections provide less safety than widely believed. The findings are alarming, especially for users in authoritarian states. The list of shortcomings begins with opaque ownership structures

Anything but safe: Using VPN can bear immense risks – DW – 09/20/2025

A new study reveals that virtual private network (VPN) connections provide less safety than widely believed. The findings are alarming, especially for users in authoritarian states.

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✨🌈 Home of Digital Rights Defenders @teamcommunity.bsky.social · 12d

A quiet coup is taking place — not in parliaments or palaces, but in the invisible infrastructure of the internet. Check out @kkomaitis.bsky.social piece detailing recent investigations on how its being repurposed, commercialized, and exported as a tool of repression.

The Internet Coup Is Here. And the World Is Still Asleep | TechPolicy.Press

At UNGA 80, the world’s leaders have a chance to prove that they understand what is at stake, writes Konstantinos Komaitis.

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