Boudewijn van Eerd

Digital rights & tech policy. Peaking behind the curtains of technology theatre

[Rik Rutten @rik_rutten]

En een goed moment om bekend te maken dat ik een nieuwe standplaats heb na vijf jaar in Den Haag. Vanaf deze week ben ik de EU-correspondent van NRC!

[Sea-Watch International @seawatch_intl]

🔴 Urgent: A boat is currently sinking in the Mediterranean. The dinghy has lost most of its air, and 12 people have been in the water for over two hours, likely to reduce weight and protect the 4 children on board. AUTHORITIES ARE IGNORING OUR CALLS FOR HELP!

[EDRi @edri]

1/4 🚨This week, media reported about another @Europarl_EN MEP being targeted by #spyware - just two weeks before the #EuropeanElections took place.

The attack shows:
❌ no one is immune to intrusive #surveillance
❌we need an EU-wide ban on spyware

➡️ https://t.co/msbqtqpliV

[Aegean Boat Report @ABoatReport]

It’s with a heavy heart that I’m now announcing that Aegean Boat Report is forced to drastically scale down on our operations, due to lack of funding.

I have for months tried my utmost to find new financial partners, who see the necessity of our work, and are able and willing, to support our project documenting violence against men, women and children at our borders, unfortunately, so far, this has not been successful.

Criminalization by Greek authorities of Aegean Boat Report, and it’s founder Tommy Olsen, has taken its toll. Potential financial partners finds it difficult to support someone, where there is arrest warrants issued, and we are told to return to them when “the legal issues have been resolved”.
Anyone who has knowledge of the Greek legal system knows that this will take years to resolve.

Aegean Boat Report will continue to monitor the ABR Hotline, our highest priority has always been to assist people asking for help first, everything else will be scaled down to a bare minimum.

Eventually, if no substantial sustainable solution is found in the next two months, I will be forced to close down Aegean Boat Report.

Yes we are followed by thousands of people, and many relies and use the information we provide in their daily work, especially journalists. But those who will suffer the most, when we close down, will be, and always is, the men, women and children, who on a daily basis rely on our assistance.

What is importantly to understand, is that no organization can survive on likes, views and followers alone, it actually takes money.

We will in the nearby future, publish more detailed information on the reasons why we are forced to close, if no sustainable solution is found, and the potential negative impact this will have on the current situation in the Aegean Sea, advocacy, and last but not least, for people on the move.

I am very sorry to have to publish this, I have postponed this as long as I could, in hope of finding a solution, unfortunately there is at the moment no solution in sight.

The bottom line is, if no financial solution is found, Aegean Boat Report, who has been fending for the rights of vulnerable people for seven years, will be closed within a few months.

To support our work and help us continue saving lives in the Aegean, please donate through PayPal by clicking on the link below in comments.

Thank You for Your Support.

Tommy Olsen
Aegean Boat Report

[Amnesty Tech @AmnestyTech]

ASN Impact Investors, a major Dutch investor has told TKH Group, a manufacturer of cameras deployed in occupied East Jerusalem that it must adopt human rights due diligence policies within a year or face a termination of investment.

https://t.co/7uifZ8hWWP

[Dave Keating @DaveKeating]

A weird Brexit consequence - the British paratroopers who landed in France to recreate D-Day for today's anniversary had to immediately go through customs after landing.

[Barbara Kathmann @BarbaraKathmann]

Vrijwel nul aandacht voor digitalisering in het #regeerakkoord. Ik maak mij grote zorgen. Terwijl IT-systemen bij de overheid vastlopen, het personeelstekort groeit en 2,5 miljoen mensen niet meekomen in de digitale wereld lost dit akkoord niets op. #formatie 1/2

[Chanatip T. @ChanatipTati]

Happy to announce that today @amnesty launched our research “Being ourselves is too dangerous” on digital violence against women & LGBTI activists in Thailand

This past year I’ve had a chance to lead this research & work with @AmnestyTech colleagues who co-authored this report

[Amnesty Tech @AmnestyTech]

“Online spaces are very important today. We use them to communicate and campaign on everything related to human rights.” Manun Wongmason advocates for Muslim and LGBTI rights in Thailand, but suffered devastating backlash as a consequence. It’s time to #ProtectTheProtest online.

[Access Now @accessnow]

Recent investigations have revealed how Israel’s AI systems “Lavender” + “The Gospel” are causing mass destruction in Gaza, raising ethical concerns about AI in warfare.

@marwasf and @djleufer explain how these systems are unleashing tech-driven horrors:
https://t.co/AMrZwXiTq8

[Rik Rutten @rik_rutten]

„Ik wil terug naar mijn dorp. Maar als ik daar gebleven was, zou ik alleen gestorven zijn. Hier zijn er tenminste mensen om me heen als ik doodga.”

Gelukkig zijn er oorlogsjournalisten als @minkanijhuis: https://t.co/mv8josHwfs

[Giorgos Verdi @giorgosverdi]

1/ Europe doesn't have a tech industry. But why is that the case? The short answer: it's not because of regulation.

🧵A thread:

[Talia Jane @taliaotg]

Palestinian students at Otto von Guericke University in Magdeburg, Germany received an email from the school that they’ve been recategorized as “stateless” due to governmental “changes in the statistical requirements.”

Germany no longer recognizes Palestinian as a nationality.

[AWO @A__W______O]

AWO is pleased to share our new report, ‘Quantum Computing and the Global South’, commissioned by @jorisvanhoboken at @IViR_uva.👇
https://t.co/S2xgGRoyzk

[Statewatch @StatewatchEU]

🟩 We are launching a new bulletin on #EU border externalisation 🟩

Together with @MigControl & funded by @BROT_furdiewelt, @Misereor, @nothilfe and @ProAsyl, this bi-monthly bulletin aims to make the EU’s #externalisation policies, plans & practices public

🧵👀

[Rik Rutten @rik_rutten]

Nog zo'n voorbeeld: Slowakije. Onlangs goed beschreven door @arnoutleclercq in deze reportage: https://t.co/zDhbHN2kv6

[Tom-Jan Meeus @tomjanmeeus]

Wat een verhaal dit. Hoe het eraan toegaat als de overheid en Shell strijden om geld
Door ⁦@rik_rutten⁩ en ⁦@DerkStokmans⁩ https://t.co/lZCIOKQS4T

[Sam Ooghe @OogheSam]

Onderzoek voor Humo: radicaliseren op TikTok is kinderspel. Ik maakte drie verschillende accounts aan waarop ik me voordeed als een 13-jarige met onschuldige hobby's, en telkens viel ik pijlsnel in een gewelddadige 'rabbit hole': neonazisme, zelfmoord en jihadisme. (1/14)

[Meredith Whittaker @mer__edith]

I'm sitting this morning wondering which BigTech cloud the "Lavendar" & "Where's Daddy?" systems are running on. What APIs they might be using. Which libraries they're likely calling

What work did my former colleagues, did I, did you contribute to that may now be enabling this?

[EDRi @edri]

After gruelling negotiations, EU lawmakers are set to adopt the final #AIAct.

But how does the law fare against the collective demands of our civil society coalition that advocated for prioritising human rights?

❗️Spoiler alert: not well🙅‍♀️

Read more ⤵️ https://t.co/w4zInAH0k9