The goal of the network is to raise awareness of online freedom of speech issues, and to share tools and tactics with activists and citizen media facing censorship and surveillance on different parts of the globe. The network provides support to both the Global Voices advocacy community and to others, produces and promotes educational guides about information technology advocacy, privacy and anonymity, anti-censorship and and anti- surveillance campaigning, and strategies for online organizing. In collaboration with software developers, activists, and citizen media producers, the network also aims to design and promote new and more appropriate tools to protect our rights on the Internet. Finally, the Global Voices Advocacy community focuses on building and supporting the rights of netizens around the world.

Global Voices is a global, virtual organization, supported by the paid and volunteer efforts of people on every continent. The Advocacy Editor must possess a wide range of professional and personal skills to help the project reach its potential as the leading international network for the development of successful and effective citizen media projects.

The Global Voices Advocacy Editor will be responsible for the following:

• Daily writing and editing of content on the Global Voices Advocacy website
• Working closely with Global Voices Advocacy volunteer community members to produce content
• Working closely with Global Voices Advocacy Director to implement GV's advocacy strategies
• Daily upkeep of the The Threatened Voices website, including writing and editing content, updating cases, refining methodology, and working on technical improvements
• Working with GVA partner organizations to promote content from GVA and Threatened Voices content through mass media, social media, and other public forums
• Building and maintaining content-sharing relationships with GVA partner organizations
• Working with the broader GV community, including coordinating with GV managing and deputy editors and Lingua translation editors, to insure content is posted and translated as needed
• Managing and updating a centralized compendium of guides, tutorials, and resources related to online freedom of expression security and activism, and writing and updating GVA guides and tutorials as needed. Coordinate translation of guides into target languages.

We seek a candidate with the following qualities:

• Deep experience in grassroots human rights, digital activism, and freedom of expression advocacy
• Professional editing, writing, and public speaking skills in English
• Strong familiarity with digital media technology, blogging, social media, and tools used to protect speech rights on the Internet
• Ability to support and manage distributed, virtual communities
• Familiarity with open source software and open content communities
• Ability to work independently and to produce results in a timely manner
• Able to travel extensively
• Comfortable speaking in public forums, conferences and workshops

To work effectively with our community, we would prefer that candidates:

Have experience living and working internationally, or have traveled extensively in the developing world

• Are active bloggers or creators of online media
• Are multilingual, with fluency in English and at least one other language
• Have experience working in diverse, multicultural environments
• Are strong communicators and facilitators

The Advocacy Editor will report to the Global Voices Advocacy Director.

The ideal candidate must have a passionate commitment to the values and goals of Global Voices. He or she will be joining a well established core team who are dedicated to amplifying the voices of world. There is no geographic requirement associated with this position; Global Voices has no office or physical headquarters. Candidates must have access to broadband internet connectivity and be comfortable working in a wholly virtual environment. We strongly welcome candidates from outside North America and Western Europe, and encourage people currently working on the Global Voices project to apply.

The position is near full-time or full-time, but should be treated as a freelance contract.

Interested candidates should send a CV and letter of interest explaining why you'd be a good candidate for the job to: adminjob AT globalvoicesonline DOT org by no later than November 5.

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Hisham joins Global Voices Advocacy at an important time, both for online freedom of speech and for the Global Voices community. The last several years have demonstrated that online speech can have consequences in the real world: online social movements, digital activism, digital-only journalism, and a flood of content in writing, audio and video have had a major impact on political and social change in numerous countries. This is especially true in the Middle East and North Africa. Hisham's personal experience in working within digital movements in Morocco, and his participation in extensive networks of learning and practice in digital activism in MENA and around the world will be a welcome force for Global Voices’ advocacy work.

Many governments around the world, recognizing the power of online speech, are moving to bring it under the control of national law, in the process applying media restrictions, restricting access, increasing surveillance, often making the online media as hazardous and contested a space as other forms of media. For the past several years, individuals working in citizen media have been frequent targets of attack, violence and arrest, as documented by Global Voices Advocacy, as well as journalist rights organizations such as the Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters sans frontières. The GVA project Threatened Voices has documented 333 cases of citizen media producers threatened, attacked or arrested in the past three years.

Given this, GVA's work has a new urgency: to document and spread awareness of threats to online speech, to help digital activists and citizen media producers to be aware of the risks and threats that come with some kinds of speech, and to learn the tools and practices that will help them to protect themselves.

GVA's ultimate purpose is to build networks of support and trust so that we all have the communities we need to defend our rights to speech. Our work under our first director, Sami Ben Gharbia, aimed to ensure that online citizen speech received the same protections as the work of journalists and professional media producers. Initially, that work was focused mostly on documenting attacks and threats. While documentation is still vital, we also recognize that policies set by governments, by the private companies that control a great deal of online speech, and by internet governance bodies will have a major impact on our ability to retain a global, unified internet. Individual cases and work on policy now go hand in hand.

Given the challenges before us, Hisham's mix of experience, passion, calm wisdom, and strategic thinking should serve GVA well. I'm personally very much looking forward to working with and learning from him, and welcome him in his new role.

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Global Voices seeks an Advocacy Director to run its online freedom of expression initiatives. Global Voices Advocacy seeks to build a global anti-censorship network of citizen media and online activists throughout the developing world that is dedicated to protecting freedom of expression and free access to information online.

The goal of the network is to raise awareness of online freedom of speech issues, and to share tools and tactics with activists and citizen media facing censorship and surveillance on different parts of the globe. The network provides support to both the Global Voices advocacy community and to others, produces and promotes educational guides about information technology advocacy, privacy and anonymity, anti-censorship and and anti- surveillance campaigning, and strategies for online organizing. In collaboration with software developers, activists, and citizen media producers, the network also aims to design and promote new and more appropriate tools to protect our rights on the Internet. Finally, the Global Voices Advocacy community focuses on building and supporting the rights of netizens around the world.

Global Voices is a global, virtual organization, supported by the paid and volunteer efforts of people on every continent. The Advocacy Director must possess a wide range of professional and personal skills to help the project reach its potential as the leading international network for the development of successful and effective citizen media projects.

The Global Voices Advocacy Director will have a unique opportunity to help a thriving international network of citizen media activists and producers to define and promote online expression. The director will be responsible for the following:

• Strategic direction of Global Voices Advocacy projects, providing vision and leadership for current projects, including the website, educational and training programs, the Threatened Voices project, and the development of new projects. Work closely with the Global Voices core team and community to design and find support for GVA's core mission and new projects.
• Oversight of Global Voices Advocacy staff and volunteer community, and current grantee projects, including direct communication with project leaders, grant disbursement, financial oversight, and technical support
• Build and support the Global Voices advocacy volunteer community, ensuring that our efforts are always inclusive of and represent grassroots, local perspectives
• Design and maintain operational security protocols and best practices, provide training, and encourage safe information security practices for Global Voices community members
• Build and maintain relationships with other citizen media and advocacy networks, local and international partner organizations, and donors interested in supporting initiatives related to online freedom of speech.
• Support and continue to develop the Threatened Voices project, including focus on partnerships, data gathering methodology and accuracy, and
• Ongoing outreach and engagement with the broader GV community
• Writing, speaking, and advocating for GVA's issues on the website, in forums, conferences, and workshops around the world
• Build and maintain a centralized compendium of guides, tutorials, and resources related to  online freedom of expression security and activism, and write own when necessary
• Support training and networking of digital activists through workshops, guides, and individual engagement
• Draft and manage operating budgets for the program – in collaboration with Global Voices’ Managing Director and Executive Director

We seek a candidate with the following qualities:

• Deep experience in grassroots human rights, digital activism, and freedom of expression advocacy
• Strong familiarity with digital media technology, blogging, social media, and tools used to protect speech rights on the Internet
• Strong editing, writing, and public speaking skills in English
• Ability to support and manage distributed, virtual communities
• Experience in designing and running workshops for digital media activists
• Strong leadership skills
• Familiarity with open source software and open content communities
• Ability to work independently and to produce results in a timely manner
• Able to travel extensively

To work effectively with our community, we would prefer that candidates:

• Have experience living and working internationally, or have traveled extensively in the developing world
• Are active bloggers or creators of online media
• Are multilingual, with fluency in English and at least one other language
• Have experience working in diverse, multicultural environments
• Are strong communicators and facilitators

The ideal candidate must have a passionate commitment to the values and goals of Global Voices. He or she will be joining a well established core team who are dedicated to amplifying the voices of world. There is no geographic requirement associated with this position; Global Voices has no office or physical headquarters. Candidates must have access to broadband internet connectivity and be comfortable working in a wholly virtual environment. We strongly welcome candidates from outside North America and Western Europe, and encourage people currently working on the Global Voices project to apply.

The position is full-time, but should be treated as a freelance contract.

Interested candidates should send a CV and letter of interest explaining why you'd be a good candidate for the job to: adminjob AT globalvoicesonline DOT org by no later than August 13.

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This year’s award will be focused on the extended community working with Global Voices. Many of our community members are also affiliated with other projects that have had significant impacts on freedom of expression in their communities and have a grassroots, civic character. We want to reward projects that have had a real impact, but are not incredibly well known, and for whom the support could make a significant difference in their development.

The Breaking Borders winners will be announced at the Global Voices Citizen Media Summit 2012, in Nairobi, Kenya on July 2-3, 2012.

Visit the Summit web site for background information on the goals of the meeting, the program of events, and registration details.

The Breaking Borders Award is open to the extended Global Voices community. Winners will be selected by a panel of experts in the field of freedom of expression. Two cash prizes of $10,000 will be awarded for an individual or group that has:

• used online tools to promote free expression or encourage social or political change
• created an important tool that enables free expression and expands access to information
• been instrumental in forming a community that has advanced free expression and access to information

Who can enter: Any member of the Global Voices community, including Global Voices in English, Lingua and Global Voices Advocacy, who has written, edited or translated at least one post in the history of Global Voices, and all Rising Voices grantees.

Nominations are for ongoing projects that have already demonstrated significant effects in their field of endeavor, based on work achieved in the last two years. We will consider projects that are created by or strongly affiliated with any member of the Global Voices community. If you are a GV volunteer, staff, or board member, and also a creator or hold a leadership role in another project, that project is eligible. You can nominate your own project.

Submit your nomination for the Breaking Borders Award using this online form. Applications close on May 20, 2012.

Contact us at “eddie at globalvoicesonline.org” with any questions.

FAQS

What is the Breaking Borders Award?

The Breaking Borders award was set up by Global Voices and Google to highlight the importance of free expression around the world by honoring an outstanding web projects by individuals or groups, who have shown courage, energy and resourcefulness in using the internet or mobile phones to promote freedom of expression, ensure that diverse political viewpoints are heard and stand up to those who censor information.

Who can participate?

Anyone who is a member of the Global Voices extended community, with a relevant online or mobile presence can participate. Nominate yourself, a blog, website or other online presence you consider has helped promote the free circulation of ideas, stood up against censorship, helped local communities, raised awareness about a specific issue or cause, mobilised government or supported silenced voices.

Are there any geographical restrictions to participate?

No, the nominee can be based or support a cause anywhere in the world.

How do I nominate?

Fill out the nomination form. Please understand that we can accept nominations only if you provide the following information: a) the name and contact information for the nominee (or the organisation/initiative) b) blog, website or other mobile or online presence that showcases the value of the nominee, c) why the nominee merits the Breaking Borders Award, d) if self nominating, how you would use the prize money, and e) your contact details, so we can get in touch with you if we have further questions.

How will the winners be elected?

Members of the Global Voices board will select the final winners.

Will there only be one winner?

There will be two winners.

Will the winner receive a prize?

The awardees will receive a prize of $10,000 each.

What is the deadline for nominations?

The deadline for nominations is the 20th of May, 2012.

When will the winner be announced?

The awards will be announced in July 2012.

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Ignoring the warnings of citizens and technologists, United States lawmakers are considering two bills, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA), that are a real and dangerous threat to the openness of the web everywhere in the world. In response, the Global Voices community has decided to join websites such as Wikipedia, Reddit and BoingBoing in “going dark” and will black out the Global Voices Advocacy site for 12 hours on January 18, and display a banner on other Global Voices sites that provides more information about the proposed bills.

We are an international volunteer community dedicated to amplifying citizen media from around the world. In the last six years, we’ve produced more than 75,000 posts that link to blogs and other citizen content for readers in over 20 languages. Our content is free to use, and free to share. We rely on the open Internet to carry out our mission, and on social media and citizen media websites that allow for simple publication and sharing of content. Platforms like WordPress, Wikipedia, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, Reddit, Tumblr, and many other online media production communities host content on which we base much of our work.

The passage of SOPA and PIPA by the United States Congress and Senate would force social media platforms and other web sites that host user-generated content to pro-actively monitor and censor users to prevent them from posting words or images that may violate copyrights. It would raise the cost of participation on these sites for all users worldwide, and could force many social media projects to shut down, especially smaller websites and businesses.

We are concerned this law would will inflict broad damage on the work of digital activists living under repressive regimes, as well as restrict basic speech freedoms around the world. Current copyright laws are occasionally misused in the U.S, and can result in de facto speech restrictions. In countries with less independent judicial systems, abuse of copyright law to repress activism is both simple and frequent.

Global Voices contributors in many countries face increasingly aggressive surveillance and censorship. Several are in prison or exile because of their online activities. Passage of these bills will send a clear message that the US government believes it is acceptable to monitor and censor citizens to identify “infringing activity” which too often is equated with political and religious dissent. Passage of SOPA and PIPA would also give the United States government a disproportionate amount of power to determine the course of the Internet. The result will be a more dangerous world for bloggers and activists, and less free speech for all.

Even though the current version of SOPA was put indefinitely on hold this week, PIPA, the Senate version of the bill, is still alive. And the issues and forces that are driving the passage of a law remain. For this reason, Global Voices is joining the Internet blackout on January 18, 2012.

Recent Global Voices Advocacy posts on SOPA/PIPA:

• Trevor Tim, ”How PIPA and SOPA Violate White House Principles Supporting Free Speech and Innovation”
• Katitza Rodriguez, “SOPA undermines the U.S. in its negotiations for a free, open Internet”
• Weiping Li, “For Chinese Netizens, SOPA is Another Great Firewall”
• Yoo Eun Lee, “Stop Online Piracy Act: The Fight Continues”

Other resources for understanding the effects of SOPA/PIPA:

• Joi Ito and Ethan Zuckerman, “Why we need to stop SOPA and PIPA”
• “Internet Blacklist Legislation“, Electronic Frontier Foundation, EFF's email campaign against the legislation and EFF guide to meeting with your representatives. EFF also explains how SOPA/PIPA will hurt open source software creation.
• Dan Rowinsky, “What You Need to Know about SOPA in 2012“, ReadWriteWeb
• Wikipedia, “Stop Online Piracy Act”
• Rebecca MacKinnon and Ivan Sigal, “Online piracy laws must preserve Web freedom, CNN.”

What you can do:

• If you are an American citizen, Americancensorship.org can help you to quickly communicate with your elected representatives, or help you to join the strike. Learn more about the strike at www.sopastrike.com.

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These reports demonstrate the depth of the relationship between foreign information technology companies and the Gaddafi regime, mirroring similar relationships with the repressive regimes of Tunsia, Egypt, Syria, and others in the Middle East.

In the case of Libya, it is now clear that prior to the rebellion, the regime emphasized surveillance and data gathering over filtering. With the onset of conflict, the Gaddafi regime scrambled to put in place filtering and blocking technologies, and employed outsiders to attack opposition sites and communications.

Former and current LTT staff speak

Libya was collecting massive quantities of data on both phone networks and internet usage. In August, The Wall Street Journal described seeing surveillance equipment manufactured by Narus, a wholly owned subsidiary of Boeing, Inc., and Amesys, part of French company Bull S.A., in an abandoned security unit.

In recent conversations in Tripoli, sources who are current and former employees of Libya Telecom and Technology (LTT) have described the efforts of the Gaddafi regime to ramp up surveillance in the weeks after the rebellion. The efforts were led out of an Internet monitoring center run by the Interior Ministry in Tripoli, a center connected to Libyan security agencies. They describe recruitment of hackers from China and Eastern Europe to block key opposition sites and social media such as Facebook and YouTube, run phishing campaigns to steal Facebook passwords, and generate viruses to infect user computers and compromise data security. They also describe extensive efforts to eavesdrop on Skype, phone networks, and internet running through VSAT connections. This confirms earlier Global Voices reporting that describes “cyber attacks on [Libyan] opposition websites coming from Serbia.”

A backdoor to Thuraya satellite phones?

In addition, the same individuals assert that the Libyan government was able to gain backdoor access to voice and data on Thuraya satellite phones sold in Tripoli through official providers. Thuraya, who are based in the United Arab Emirates, deny they granted the Libyan government a backdoor.

Libya’s General Post and Telecommunications Corporation is a shareholder in Thuraya, but the relationship between the company and the Gaddafi regime has not always been smooth. In 2006, Libya was accused by Thuraya of jamming its mobile satellite communications. The jamming occurred over six months, and disrupted service in Libya and surrounding regions. In February 2011, Thuraya once again said that they had “conclusive evidence” that Libya was jamming signals on its Thuraya-2 satellite network.

Ebrahim E. Ebrahim, Thuraya’s Vice-President for Corporate & Marketing Communications, referred to the February incident in an email interview and says, Thuraya’s network “was subjected to harmful and unlawful interference in Libya, which we have evidence to suggest was intentional,” but that the “alleged backdoor never existed, which is why our network was subjected to the intentional jamming.”

Thuraya and other satellite phones have been used by media and NGOs during protests in authoritarian countries with the hope of data security – an assumption that may be misplaced, given the sophisticated technology available to monitor telecommunications networks. Thuraya says there are around 3000 subscribers to its service in Libya – with a focus on rural access where cell networks do not reach.

In the weeks before the rebel attack on Tripoli, Gaddafi threatened death to anyone using Thuraya phones not registered in Libya. This may suggest that unregistered Thuraya phones were perceived as a threat by the government.

Is the Libyan internet safe now?

Libya has been able to legally purchase internet technology since the end of international trade sanctions in 2003 and 2004, following Gaddafi's disavowal of a weapons of mass destruction program and reparations payments for the Lockerbie airplane bombing. By several accounts Libya invested in technology manufactured in North America, Europe, and China, used to monitor and capture data on both internet and telephone networks.

In interviews, current and former employees of Libya Telecom and Technology assert that the Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE provided Libya with software for content filtering and blocking. The core Libyan internet has been built using technology from global providers, such as Cisco, Nera Networks, Alcatel-Lucent, Siemens Ericcson, and Huawei and ZTE.

Surveillance of these networks accompanied by occasional filtering and blocking by the Gaddafi regime has been public knowledge for several years. The Open Network Initiative's study from August 2009 asserts that Libya practiced selective filtering, but significant surveillance at both the personal level in internet cafes and other public access points.

Libyans under Gaddafi were very wary about both personal and electronic surveillance. Many bloggers stayed far away from politically sensitive material, or published their work pseudonymously or anonymously. Citizen media remained dispersed, with active bloggers meeting rarely and never in large groups. This practice, it seems, was wise. The return of internet to Libya after the fall of Tripoli has meant the end of censorship and surveillance, at least in its earlier form. However, many bloggers and activists using social media remain cautious about revealing their identity, what they write, and where they are.

Given Libya’s uncertain political future, personal and data security will likely remain a key concern for Libyan citizens for some time.

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The Breaking Borders Award is a new prize created by Google and Global Voices and supported by Thomson Reuters to honor outstanding web projects initiated by individuals or groups that demonstrate courage, energy and resourcefulness in using the Internet to promote freedom of expression.

We are proud to announce our jury members for the award. The jury is drawn from experts and leaders in the freedom of expression, journalism, digital activism, and technology sectors, and includes representatives from around the world. Members of the jury are:

Sheila Coronel, Director, Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism, Professor of Professional Practice, Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
Jose Roberto de Toledo, Projects and Training Coordinator, Brazilian Association for Investigative Journalism (ABRAJI); Director, PrimaPagina
Edetaen Ojo, Convenor, International Freedom of Expression Exchange, Executive Director, Media Rights Agenda
Dean Wright, Global Editor, Ethics, Innovation and News Standards, Reuters
Rebecca MacKinnon, Co-Founder, Global Voices; Visiting Fellow, Princeton University Center for Information Technology
Robert Boorstin, Director, Public Policy, Google

The Breaking Borders Award is open to people of all nationalities. Winners will be selected by a panel of experts in the field of freedom of expression. A cash prize of $10,000 will be awarded in each of three areas:

1. Advocacy, given to an activist or group that has used online tools to promote free expression or encourage political change
2. Technology, given to an individual or group that has created an important tool that enables free expression and expands access to information
3. Policy, given to a policy maker, government official or NGO leader who has made a notable contribution in the field

Nominations for and additional information about the Breaking Borders Award can be submitted at http://breakingborders.net and close on February 15, 2010.

Global voices is very excited to be associated with this event. Contact us at nomination@breakingborders.net with any questions.

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The Initiative was launched as a response to corporate participation in online censorship, especially in China. It took more than two years to craft, and much of that time was spent articulating a set of principles and devising mechanisms to encourage compliance acceptable both to human rights groups and to businesses.

Rebecca MacKinnon, one of Global Voices’ founders, participated in the working group, and writes in RConversation:

A few people have called me asking “does this thing have any teeth” or “is this thing more than just a figleaf for companies to get congress off their backs?

Organizations like Human Rights Watch, Human Rights in China, Human Rights First, and the Committee to Protect Journalists would not be putting their reputations behind this thing if they didn't think it was meaningful.

That said, the initiative must prove its value in the next couple of years by implementing a meaningful and sufficiently tough process by which companies’ adherence to the principles will be evaluated and benchmarked.

Leslie Harris of the Center for Democracy and Technology, one of the initiative’s conveners, writes on her blog PolicyBeta:

Not merely aspirational, the Initiative requires concrete commitments from participating companies to engage in a high level of corporate due diligence and risk management with respect to the demands they receive from government, and greater user transparency about the impact of those demands on freedom of expression and privacy, in all markets where they operate. Company fulfillment of these commitments will be evaluated through an independent and credible process for accountability.

The Chinese/English anti-censorship blog, GFW Blog provides a succinct summary, a list of quotes and from participants, and their contact information.

Not every organization involved ultimately signed on to the principles. Amnesty International and Reporters sans frontieres both stepped away from the process. RSF believes that the Initiative is a “step in the right direction” but lacks enforcement capacity, and lists their main concerns here. Amnesty UK's Internet repression page doesn't discuss their position, but it does have a video of Global Voices co-founder Ethan Zuckerman explaining online censorship.

Fundamentally, it seems that some organizations feel they can be better advocates if they don’t have to compromise on principles, while others believe that engagement and the creation of a process for dialogue leading to incremental change is more important.

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