Global Voices Advocacy » Jillian York

In Case of Disconnection: Preparing Gaza for an Internet Shutdown

Jillian York — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 20:24:05 +0000

For days, rumors have abounded that Israel—which controls the telecommunications infrastructure of Palestine—plans to shut down the Internet in Gaza. While thus far the rumors have proven false, various organizations and actors are working to ensure that Gazans are prepared.

Telecomix, a group notable for its assistance to Egyptians during the January 2011 Internet shutdown, has put forward a guide entitled “Telecomix #Gaza Emergency Room,” offering up tips for staying connected in the wake of an Internet shutdown. The guide includes tips on using an Egyptian SIM card, tweeting from one's mobile device, and accessing dialup connections.

Anonymous has also put together a comprehensive guide to keeping the lines of communication open in the event of a shutdown. Their package of tips includes the following:

FIND THE PRIVATELY RUN ISPs: In densely populated areas, especially in central business districts and city suburbs there are multiple home WiFi networks overlapping each other, some secure, some not. If there is no internet, open up your WiFi by removing password protection: If enough people do this it’s feasible to create a totally private WiFi service outside government control covering the CBD, and you can use applications that run Bonjour (iChat on Mac for example) to communicate with others on the open network and send and receive documents. **needs more clarification If you are a private ISP, it’s your time to shine. Consider allowing open access to your Wi-Fi routers to facilitate communication of people around you until the grid is back online.

Another package circulating was created by “the dod” and contains advice on using Tor, Tails, and PGP and is open for additional suggestions.

On the Electronic Frontier Foundation's Deeplinks blog, Eva Galperin provides analysis on the ongoing social media “battle” and offers the following reminder:

It is important to remember that dial-up connections are not secure. Your communications can be intercepted or spied upon. EFF recommends that you encrypt your browser traffic using HTTPS Everywhere.

There are also numerous guides available in Arabic. A blog entitled Resistance Tools for Gaza offers links to both a first aid guide and a guide to tech tools.

Nadim Kobeissi, the creator of CryptoCat, has been tweeting suggestions and offers of assistance. In one tweet, he cites a guide from Movements.org, suggesting it be translated into Arabic:

PRIORITY to get this into #Gaza, needs to be translated to Arabic:http://www.movements.org/how-to/entry/how-to-prepare-for-an-internet-connection-cut-off/ …

The guide, written by Susannah Vila, offers tips like:

Take all your contacts out of the cloud. It's a good idea to make sure you have a list of your contacts’ emails printed out and readily available. For example, the We Are All Khaled Said Facebook page prepared for a possible Facebook cut-off in Egypt by asking supporters to share their email addresses and other contact information on a Google spreadsheet.

Kobeissi also created a tutorial for using OTR (off-the-record chatting) with Pidgin, a commonly-used chat client for PCs:

Global Voices on Net Censorship

Jillian York — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 12:52:50 +0000

Every week, the Global Voices Advocacy Netizen Report brings our readers the most up-to-date information on global Internet censorship, privacy issues, regulations, and more, from a variety of sources.

In a new series however, we will take a glance just at what's being reported on Global Voices Online, for an indepth look at how netizens the world over are reacting to increased Internet censorship.

In Ukraine, reports Veronica Khokhlova, citizens are protesting a draft law that calls for penalties of up to five years in jail for defamation. As Reporters Without Borders—which Khokhlova quotes in her analysis—has reported:

The lack of clarity surrounding the definition of defamation, which the bill describes as “disseminating false information, insulting the honour and dignity of a person or damaging his or her reputation”, arouses fears of abuse resulting from varying interpretations.

“Defend your right to know. Say no to the defamation law,” reads a symbol of protest from Ukraine.

Khokhlova also shares an image from a Facebook group that is protesting the law (above), and writes that many are calling on Parliament to recall the law.

Further east, Global Voices’ Mong Palatino writes of Vietnam's crackdown on dissent. This past week, writes Palatino:

Vietnamese bloggers Dieu Cay, AnhBaSG, and Ta Phong Tan were found guilty by a Ho Chi Minh City court of violating article 88 of Vietnam’s criminal code, which involves the “spreading fabricated news in order to foment confusion among people” and “defaming the people’s administration.”

Nevertheless, as one blogger quoted in Palatino's story writes, “the government has announced bans on websites, only to see traffic to them skyrocket,” indicating the lack of sophistication required to keep up-to-date on censoring the Internet.

In a separate piece, Palatino covers increasingly strict regulations on Internet use in Southeast Asia, highlighting recent Global Voices articles and other blogs and noting that, while Southeast Asian governments are enhancing Internet access, they are also “instituting tougher internet regulations which many analysts believe could be used to curtail media freedom.”

In Spain, an “offline” censorship controversy is occurring, which author Victoria Fioravante describes as having created “widespread commotion among the internet community.” The controversy revolves around the censorship of a political satire program called ‘Carne Cruda’ (Raw Meat) by the director of Spanish National Radio 3 (RNE3). Fioravante points to a Facebook post [es] by the program's director, Javier Gallego, denying the reported reasons for the show's demise.

Global Voices shorter news “updates” can be a wealth of information, and this week's are no exception. A glance at the updates tagged “freedom of expression” provides insight into happenings all across the globe, some of which have gone unreported in English-language media:

In Russia, Yekaterinburg-based Internet news portal URA.ru was raided by city police, notes author Andrey Tselikov.
Iranian author Fred Petrossian points out that Iran's Telecommunications Minister plans to launch alternatives to US-based Google products.
Latin America regional editor Silvia Viñas provides regional reactions to Paraguay's blocking of a news website, which Renata Avila reported on for Advox last week.
Onnik Krikorian reports that a youth activist in Azerbaijan is believed to be arrested.

Thumbnail image shows ‘Censorship’ by Flickr/IsaacMao (CC BY 2.0).

In Censoring Anti-Islam Video, Did Google Do the Right Thing?

Jillian York — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 12:19:29 +0000

This past week, a video apparently made with the sole purpose of inciting Muslim anger by an American Coptic Christian was shown on Egyptian television, sparking protests outside the US Embassy in Cairo that have been replicated throughout several countries in the region. The response to the video caused several countries, including Afghanistan, to block the video on YouTube, while YouTube itself chose to block access to the video in Egypt and Libya and later India and other countries, though the latter were in response to legal requests.

YouTube's decision to block the video in Egypt and Libya was not the result of a legal order, rather, it may have been in part due to a request from the White House, which has raised concerns amongst free expression advocates, including the ACLU, EFF, and Access, as well as amongst writers such as the Nation‘s Ari Melber and the Guardian‘s Glenn Greenwald.

This case is about as complicated as it gets. YouTube's decision, even absent of White House pressure, was a difficult one, but their decision ultimately represents a slippery slope: If they choose to censor in this case, will they do the same in similar cases in the future or does their decision here represent an exceptional circumstance?

Indeed, YouTube does censor other content under the parameters of their Terms of Service (ToS). Nudity is not allowed, nor is the depiction of violence or drug use, though both are allowed in certain contexts (i.e., when deemed to be “documentary” or “educational” in nature). YouTube (and parent company Google) also remove or geo-block content at the behest of a legal request, as they did with this video in India and other countries. But in this case, the video was deemed not to have violated the ToS and was therefore left up in most countries and only blocked in those where violence had occurred (or where there was a legal request). This was, in fact, an unprecedented move on the part of Google.

Image courtesy Ahmad Gharbeia

Also problematic is the fact that, for the first twenty-four hours that the video was blocked in Egypt, Egyptian users were treated to a message stating that the video had been blocked by legal request, which turned out to be false. Google later stated that this was an “error” on their part.

Although it is well within Google's legal right to choose what content is within their Terms of Service, it is problematic for Google to be the arbiter of appropriateness for foreign countries, as I wrote in an op-ed for CNN. And though there have been many calls for censorship around the world, there are also brave individuals and groups standing up for free expression in Egypt, Pakistan, and elsewhere.

Ultimately, Google's decision will have an impact on future decisions not only by that company, but by others as well.

EFF's Guide to ‘Keeping Your Site Alive’

Jillian York — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 00:39:01 +0000

Today, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (full disclosure: I work there) launched a guide offering key strategies for keeping a site “alive” amidst a denial of service attack. The guide, on EFF's website, is available in eight languages, including Arabic, Spanish, and Russian, and focuses on two main strategies for keeping one's site online: Backing up and mirroring content.

The guide also features videos created by the Tactical Technology Collective, such as this one explaining the nature of distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks:

And here, EFF explains why this guide is important:

Denial of service (DoS) and distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks are increasingly common phenomena, used by a variety of actors—from activists to governments—to temporarily or indefinitely prevent a site from functioning efficiently. Often, the attack saturates the target with server requests designed to flood its bandwidth, leaving the server unable to respond to legitimate traffic.

Though the owners of major sites often have the resources to fend off or even prevent such attacks, smaller sites—such as those belonging to small independent media or human rights organizations—are sometimes permanently disabled due to a lack of resources or knowledge.

With Conviction of Eskinder Nega, Ethiopia Backslides Further

Jillian York — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 01:03:10 +0000

Last week, EFF was dismayed to learn that Ethiopian journalist and blogger Eskinder Nega had been sentenced to eighteen years in prison under a sweeping and overbroad Anti-Terrorism Proclamation. More than one hundred other Ethiopians, including nine journalists, have been sentenced under the vague law. In December 2011, two Swedish journalists were convicted on charges of supporting terrorism.

Nega's sentence has been roundly condemned by both the United States government and the United Nations, as well as a bevy of human rights organizations including Human Rights Watch. We join these groups in condemning the sentences handed to Nega as well as five other bloggers, all of whom are living in exile.

A Dangerous Precedent

Image via Ethioforum

Back in June, EFF highlighted Ethiopia's censorship and surveillance practices. from the blocking of websites to the Telecom Service Infringement Law that, in addition to protecting the state service provider from the competition of VOiP services, also aims to harshly punish citizens for using or having in their possession any telecommunications equipment without prior permission from the government.

The latest convictions demonstrate the Ethiopian government's determination to restrict freedom of expression and association. The use of anti-terrorism legislation to silence writers is a tactic seen elsewhere, including Turkey and Burundi, where just last month a journalist was sentenced to life under such legislation.

In Ethiopia's 2009 Anti-Terrorism Proclamation, terrorist acts are broadly defined by a person or group “intending to advance a political, religious, or ideological cause by coercing the government, intimidating the public or section of the public, or destabilizing or destroying the fundamental political, constitutional or, economic or social institutions of the country” by a number of actions. Furthermore, and not unlike material support laws in the United States, the definition of “rendering support for terrorism” includes the act of providing a “skill, expertise or moral support or advice.” ”Encouragement for terrorism”—which includes the publication of statements “likely to be understood as encouraging terrorist acts”—is also prohibited. It is this section of the law that has been used most consistently against journalists.

When Counter-Terrorism Becomes Anti-Freedom

While Ethiopia has reason to be concerned about terrorism, it is abundantly clear at this point that the government is taking advantage of foreign support for its counterterrorism measures. The United States alone provided $847 million in assistance to Ethiopia in 2011, some of which went to fund non-lethal military training. Between 2002 and 2007, however, Ethiopia received nearly $20 million in military assistance from the U.S., which included arms aid. In addition to providing financial aid, the U.S. has been outwardly supportive of Ethiopia's counter-terrorism measures against al-Shabaab.

At the same time, as a cable released by WikiLeaks reveals, the U.S. ambassador to Ethiopia expressed concerns about the then-draft Anti-Terrorism Proclamation, writing in a comment entitled “Opposition Beware”:

Ethiopia is a U.S. partner in a rough neighborhood, and, with the turmoil in Somalia, faces an ever rising threat stream from Somalia and the Arabian peninsula. Though the ATP gives the GoE legal authorities to confront these threats meaningfully, the draft statute's overbroad nature, the lack of legal safeguards for persons accused of terrorism, as well as the ruling party's tendency to brand mainstream domestic opposition members as terrorists, presents the potential for abuse. Post will raise these concerns with GoE officials at the earliest opportunity.

It would appear that any efforts to “raise concerns” with the Ethiopian government fell on deaf ears. Sadly, the weak condemnation expressed in those previous cases is still more than has been expressed toward Nega. In 2011, following the conviction of the two Swedish journalists, Deputy Spokesperson Mark C. Toner stated that the U.S. “[recognizes] the authority of the judicial process in Ethiopia and [respects] the Ethiopian Government's legitimate concerns about terrorism” before noting that “a free press is an important element of democratic society.”

Even the Department of State's comments on Nega's conviction do not go as far as condemnation, instead merely expressing “deep concern.”

Human Rights Watch has called on Ethiopia's international partners to immediately call for the release of Nega and the many journalists and opposition supporters who have been unlawfully prosecuted, as well as the revision of the law that put them behind bars. As Charlayne Hunter-Gault—a board member at the Committee to Protect Journalists—writes in an opinion piece for the New Yorker, the U.S. has recently made democracy promotion a top priority; referring to Nega, Hunter-Gault remarks: “Here is a great test case.”

Indeed, the new “U.S. Strategy Toward Sub-Saharan Africa” includes both democracy promotion and advancement of peace and security through the countering of terrorist groups. The U.S. government must be extremely cautious and ensure that its efforts to counter terrorism in the region don't result in any more journalists behind bars.

A Campaign for Syrian Bloggers

Jillian York — Sun, 15 Jul 2012 23:00:16 +0000

A version of this post originally appeared on the Electronic Frontier Foundation's Deeplinks blog.

As a headline from Reporters Without Borders stated today, the number of citizen journalists killed or arrested in Syria rises daily. While some, such as Razan Ghazzawi—who won Frontline Defenders’ award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk—have received ample international attention for their plight, many others have gone largely ignored by the media.

There is a new campaign centered on blogger Hussein Ghrer—who was arrested along with other bloggers and colleagues, including Ghazzawi, in a raid on the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM) in February and is still in prison. The campaign, which isavailable in several languages, aims to draw attention to Ghrer's announcement of an indefinite hunger strike to demand his unconditional release. Ghrer's nearly five-month long detention exceeds the maximum legal limits for incarceration without referral to court, which under Syrian law is 60 days.

The campaign to free blogger Hussein GhrerThough the campaign is focused on Ghrer, Syrian blogger Yazan Badran wrote recently: ”Make no mistake, #FreeRazan, #FreeBassel or #FreeHussein, all mean the same thing: We want them back, we want them all.” Indeed, bloggers and activists continue to campaign for the release of Bassel Khartabil. (Though Ghazzawi remains under threat, she is currently not being held in detention.)

The target of these campaigns is to raise awareness, as several bloggers who have been detained and then released from Syrian prisons have reported their belief that the media attention they received helped them to evade torture. Activists have created several campaign images and are encouraging users on Twitter and Facebook to use them as avatars. They are also utilizing the Twitter hashtag #FreeHussein.

To the families of all the bloggers, netizens, and video activists who have lost their lives in the Syrian conflict, we offer our condolences: their voices will not be forgotten.

A Declaration of Internet Freedom

Jillian York — Sun, 15 Jul 2012 15:08:11 +0000

As many have observed, the world is at a crucial moment when it comes to Internet freedom. In many countries around the world, new laws are being created to censor the Internet, while bloggers are increasingly at risk for speaking out.

In the past year, organizations around the world have banded together like never before to fight for online freedoms. From the fight against SOPA and PIPA in the United States to global efforts that killed the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), we have reached a zeitgeist of Internet freedom and openness.

With that in mind, a number of groups recently came together to create a Declaration of Internet Freedom, to which Global Voices Advocacy was one of the original signatories. To date, the Declaration has been signed by more than 1300 organizations and companies and is still growing. Below, you will find the original text of the Declaration. You can sign the Declaration here; you can also engage with it through numerous organizations, including the EFF, Free Press, Access, and even Cheezburger.

PREAMBLE

We believe that a free and open Internet can bring about a better world. To keep the Internet free and open, we call on communities, industries and countries to recognize these principles. We believe that they will help to bring about more creativity, more innovation and more open societies.

We are joining an international movement to defend our freedoms because we believe that they are worth fighting for.

Let’s discuss these principles — agree or disagree with them, debate them, translate them, make them your own and broaden the discussion with your community — as only the Internet can make possible.

Join us in keeping the Internet free and open.

DECLARATION

We stand for a free and open Internet.

We support transparent and participatory processes for making Internet policy and the establishment of five basic principles:

Expression: Don't censor the Internet.

Access: Promote universal access to fast and affordable networks.

Openness: Keep the Internet an open network where everyone is free to connect, communicate, write, read, watch, speak, listen, learn, create and innovate.

Innovation: Protect the freedom to innovate and create without permission. Don’t block new technologies, and don’t punish innovators for their users’ actions.

Privacy: Protect privacy and defend everyone’s ability to control how their data and devices are used.

Global Voices Partners with Electronic Frontier Foundation on “Bloggers Under Fire”

Jillian York — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 17:52:25 +0000

In 2009, Global Voices launched Threatened Voices, an innovative project to track threats to bloggers and netizens worldwide. At the time, Threatened Voices filled a void in coverage, during a year a U.S. State Department official dubbed ”the worst year in the history of the Internet as it related to Internet freedom.”

Now, three years later, as threats to netizens have increased, so has coverage of those threats. Dozens of local and international organizations, such as Reporters Without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists, regularly report on arrests, harassment and intimidation of bloggers and other Internet users. This is a good thing: raising awareness of free expression takes a village, so to speak. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (or EFF, where I serve as Director for International Freedom of Expression) is committed to focusing on these issues, but as a U.S. organization based in San Francisco, we rely upon our global contacts to keep us informed.

This is where Global Voices comes in. By partnering with Threatened Voices, EFF is able to stay on top of the latest threats faced by bloggers globally, while simultaneously raising awareness amongst EFF's members. Ultimately, this benefits bloggers, by ensuring that their voices reach the largest possible audience.

The project, Bloggers Under Fire, hosts a version of the Threatened Voices map on EFF's website, with frequent blog updates on individual cases. You'll also see cross-posted articles and original content from EFF activists. On behalf of both Global Voices Advocacy and the EFF, we welcome you to check out Bloggers Under Fire.

2011: A Year of Triumphs and Struggle for Bloggers in the Middle East and North Africa

Jillian York — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 23:24:07 +0000

This article is was originally posted on Global Voices Online

With all of the social media successes throughout the Middle East and North Africa in 2011, it would be all too easy to overlook the struggles faced by bloggers and netizens throughout the region. And yet, 2011 was an extraordinary difficult year for free expression, from Egypt's shutdown of the Internet to the numerous harassed, arrested, and detained bloggers from the Maghreb to the Gulf.

Iran: No room for free expression

Less than a week into 2012, Reporters Without Borders puts the number of jailed netizens globally at 126. Within the list, Iran stands out, as my colleague Fred Petrossian writes:

In 2011, the Iranian regime was faithful to its reputation as an enemy of internet as it continued to repress bloggers and even threaten their lives. Blogger Sakhi Rigi got a record breaking 20-year jail sentence. Hossein Ronaghi Maleki, who is serving 15 years in prison, struggled for his health and for a period was deprived of contact with his family and lawyer. RSF talked about the plight of seven netizens in Iran in July 2011. These cases are just the tip of the iceberg. While a few bloggers likeShiva Nazar Ahari andHossein Derakhshanwere released on bail, others like Mohammad Reza Pour Shajari may face charges of ‘Waging War Against God’ (moharebeh), for which a death sentence can be pronounced. As Omid Reza Mirsayafi‘s tragic death shows, the more a blogger is isolated and deprived of a network, the more he is in danger.

Egypt, Syria, Bahrain among the region's worst

But while Iran may rank worst in terms of the number of bloggers detained, life for bloggers in much of the rest of the region has been no picnic. In Syria, where the uprising that started last spring shows few signs of abating, several prominent bloggers were arrested in 2011, threatening countless more into silence. Razan Ghazzawi, a former Global Voices contributor, spent fifteen days in prison in December until being released on bail, but still faces trial for “weakening the national sentiment,” among other charges. Hussein Ghrer, released in early December, also faces trial. Meanwhile, Tal Al-Mallohi, the teenaged blogger imprisoned in 2009, is serving a five year sentence.

Egyptian blogger Alaa Abd El Fattah poses with his wife and fellow blogger Manal Hassan in Tunis just one month before his arrest

Egypt–where social media had arguably the largest impact in 2011–has also seen numerous bloggers struggle for their freedom. Blogger Maikel Nabil Sanad, who was arrested in March, was recently sentenced to two years in prison for criticizing the interim military regime on his blog. Sanad has spent much of his incarceration on hunger strike. Alaa Abd El Fattah, who was released on December 25 after nearly two months in prison, still faces trial on a number of trumped-up charges, a clear indication of his being a target for his outspokenness against the military. Another blogger, Ayman Youssef Mansour, was sentenced in October by a civilian court to three years in prison for insulting religion on his Facebook page. Several other netizens have faced military questioning for online postings. The Egyptian campaign to end military trials for civilians has been instrumental in highlighting such cases.

A third country in the region ranks among the worst in 2011, though one wouldn't know it from following mainstream media coverage. Bahrain, where a nascent uprising was all but quashed early in the year, levied harsh punishments on several bloggers in 2011, including Global Voices Advocacy contributor Ali Abdulemam, who was sentenced in absentia to fifteen years in prison and is currently in hiding.

Bahraini blogger Ali Abdulemam at the 2009 Arabloggers Workshop in Beirut

Similarly, Abduljalil Al-Singace was given the same sentence. Earlier in the year, authorities briefly detained prominent bloggers Mahmood Al-Youif and Mohamed El-Maskati, while closer to the end of 2011, Zainab Al-Khawaja was briefly imprisoned, her brutal arrest caught on video. And most tragically, Zakariya Rashid Hassan Al-Ashiri became the second blogger ever to die in prison in March.

Elsewhere in the region, the struggle continues

Though perhaps less systematically, other countries in the region targeted bloggers as well in 2011. Prior to the fall of Ben Ali, Tunisian bloggers Slim Amamou (a Global Voices Advocacy contributor) and Azyz Amami were briefly imprisoned. Amami was then arrested again and beaten by police in September. Though the arrest was not for his blogging but for a joke told near a police station, it demonstrated the tenuous state of free expression in the country.

In Morocco, a blogger and several activists were arrested in September, while Saudi Arabia went after video bloggers who had been documenting poverty in the oil-rich country. And in the UAE, a female blogger was summoned for interrogation over a tweet.

Fighting for a better 2012

Though this represents only a fraction of those intimidated, harassed, and imprisoned in 2011, it is illustrative of the continued struggle faced by bloggers, activists, and other netizens in the region. And as 2012 kicks off with such a large number of bloggers in prison, it is apparent that there is more work to be done to ensure that the right to free expression is guaranteed for everyone. And fortunately, a growing number of grassroots organizations in the region are taking up the fight for digital rights. But nevertheless, bloggers must be ever vigilant, and consider the risks they face as they take their activism online. Global Voices salutes these brave bloggers and will continue to make sure their voices are heard throughout the world.

Photo credits: Jillian C. York.

For Bloggers at Risk: Creating a Contingency Plan

Jillian York — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 23:56:21 +0000

In 2011, we have witnessed the incredible power of bloggers and social media users capturing the world’s attention through their activism. At the same time, regimes appear to be quickening the pace of their cat-and-mouse game with netizens, cracking down on speech through the use of surveillance, censorship, and the persecution and detention of bloggers. The increasingly the tech-savvy Syrian regime has been reported to demand login credentials from detainees, for example, while the use of torture in some of the region’s prisons continues.

Aware of the threats to their safety, bloggers often devise contingency plans in the event they are detained. Syrian blogger Razan Ghazzawi was on her way to a conference in Jordan several weeks ago when she was arrested (she has since been released). In a premeditated effort to protect her contacts, she shared her passwords with trusted friends outside the country with instructions to change them in the event of an arrest. This way, she would not be able to give up the login credentials to her accounts since she would no longer know them. Other bloggers inform their close contacts of their wished contingency plans, determining in advance whether they would want a campaign for their release. A number of the bloggers arrested this year, in Egypt, Syria, and elsewhere, have connections to international activist networks that have experience creating global campaigns and can easily contact government officials, companies, and human rights organizations.

Assessing individual risk is neither easy nor straightforward. Therefore, all bloggers–whether well-connected or just starting out–should consider creating a plan in the unfortunate event they are detained. That said, there are numerous resources bloggers can use to stay informed when other bloggers in their country are detained, harassed, or surveilled; when their government is monitoring phone conversations or Internet activity; and when detainees are being compelled to give up information, such as passwords, to authorities.

With that in mind, EFF together with Global Voices Advocacy have created a set of questions to consider. This list is by no means exhaustive, but should offer a starting point from which bloggers can develop their own contingency plans.

All bloggers should:

Consider providing someone outside the country with the following information:
- Login credentials to your social media, email, and blog accounts
- Contact information of family members
- Information about any health conditions
Regularly back up their blog, Facebook, email, and other accounts
Consider mirroring your website if you want to ensure it remains up without your attention to it (Global Voices Advocacy offers instructions on mirroring a WordPress blog)
Encrypt sensitive files and consider hiding them on a separate drive
Consider using tools like Identity Sweeper (for Android users) to secure/erase your mobile data
Consider preparing a statement for release in case of arrest– This can be helpful for international news outlets and human rights organizations
Consider recording a short video identifying yourself (biographical info, scope of work) and the risks that you face and share with trusted contacts
Develop contacts with human rights and free expression organizations*
Think about a strategy/contingency plan for what to do if you're detained (see below)

If you are arrested or detained:

Is there a trusted person(s) that you would like to authorize to make major decisions on your behalf–such as whether to conduct a public campaign? If yes, please make sure to discuss your preferences with that person. The following are among the topics you could talk about:

- What are your preferences for public campaigns? Is there a particular message that you feel strongly represents you and your views?
- What are the organizations you feel closest to in terms of potentially leading campaigns for your release and/or better treatment?
- Are there any particular attorney(s) who you know and would like to solicit for your case?
- Do you have a preference about what to do about your accounts? (i.e. Change the passwords, turn them into campaign accounts or shut them down) Do you trust someone else to make crucial decisions about your accounts if your situation changes?
- Is there any specific information about you or relevant to your case that you prefer not be made public?
- Do you have acute or chronic illnesses which require medication or treatment? If yes, what are they? (Asthma, diabetes, heart conditions, etc.)
- Are there family members that one can contact to sign off on important decisions or speak to the media? If yes, who? Are there family members who you absolutely do not want to speak on your behalf?

When having these conversations, keep in mind that it may be hard for you to foresee every future development. The best course of action may be to have in-depth conversations with trusted friends and family members so that they clearly understand your preferences–and then authorize them to make decisions as they best see fit under evolving conditions. In other words, “delegate with guidance” so that your trusted relations can look out for your best interests and your wishes under evolving circumstances.

*There are numerous organizations out there and we could not possibly name them all. EFF and Global Voices Advocacy are great starts, but we also recommend international organizations Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, FrontLine Defenders, Reporters Without Borders, the Committee to Protect Journalists, and Access. If you need assistance finding a local organization in your country, please contact us and we will try to help.

This post was co-authored by EFF and Global Voices Advocacy, with special thanks to Zeynep Tufekci.