This course offers an introduction to internet shutdowns, including an overview of the shutdown problem and examples of different ways governments shut down the internet and other communications channels. It will examine how internet shutdowns exacerbate human rights abuses and interfere with democratic processes. The course looks into who is fighting back and multi-stakeholder advocacy strategies used by the global #KeepItOn coalition to end internet shutdowns.

Introduction to Internet Shutdowns

Advocating and Campaigning Against Internet Shutdowns

#KeepItOn Campaign Manager, Access Now

Felicia Anthonio

@FelAnthonio

Introduction to the course

The facts on internet shutdowns

How internet shutdowns harm human rights?

Quiz - The basics of internet shutdowns

History of internet shutdowns - From Egypt to Myanmar

Defining internet shutdowns (#KeepItOn definition)

Technical means to shutdown the internet

Quiz - Am I experiencing an internet shutdown

What are internet shutdowns?

Why internet shutdowns are a barrier to elections

Civil unrest, protests and shutdowns

What activists need to know

Case study - Susan Mwape, Common Cause Zambia Case study

Quiz - activity

Cuba Case Study - Norges Rodríguez, Yucabyte

Internet shutdowns and democracy

Tips for planning for shutdowns during elections and civil unrest

About the #KeepItOn Coalition

Internet shutdown monitoring tools

Liaising with national and International institutions over shutdowns

Why the private sector matters

Advocacy and internet shutdowns

Wrap up video

Course survey

Conclusion

Access Now

This course builds on the Human Rights in Practice – The Right to Freedom of Religion or Belief course. This course will provide human rights defenders with a working knowledge of human rights monitoring, reporting and advocacy as these relate to the right to freedom of religion or belief (FoRB).

Quiz - Measuring your knowledge

Human Rights-Based Approach to reporting and monitoring

Human Rights-Based Approach to Reporting and Monitoring

Human Rights-Based Approach to Reporting & Monitoring: Do No Harm Principle

Human Rights Based Approach to reporting and monitoring: Do No Harm Principle

Verification

Digital and Physical Security

An Introduction to Indicators and Operationalization in Reporting Contexts

Evidence Based Reporting

Mechanisms of Oversight

Writing for International Law Contexts

Structuring and Executing a Report

International Advocacy

Final Quiz

Quiz

CUNY Brooklyn College

Human Rights Monitoring, Reporting and Advocacy

This course will provide human rights defenders with a working knowledge of the norms and standards that make up the right to Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) under international human rights law.

International Human Rights Law 101

Freedom of Religion or Belief

Manifestation and Registration

FoRB and Religious Education

FORB and National Security

Freedom of Religion or Belief and Other Rights

FoRB and Non-Discrimination (Religious Minorities)

FoRB & Non-discrimination Gender Equality

Mechanisms of oversight

Human Rights in Practice: The Right to Freedom of Religion or Belief

This course is an introduction to online petitions as a tool for advocacy in Iran. Participants will learn how petitions can be an effective tool for advocacy. After completing the course, participants will be able to create and promote their own petition.

Online Petitioning for Advocacy in Iran

Nasim Roshanaei

Intro the course & meet the instructor

What are (online) petitions

Why online petitions matter

Introduce different online petition platforms

Online petitioning in the Iranian context

Why online petitions are valuable

What “success” looks like for petitions

Several examples of effective online petitions and their outcomes

The role and impact of online petitions

Identifying the topic and goals of your petition

Choosing the right online petition platform

Identifying the decision maker to whom to direct your petition

Writing a compelling call to action and description for your petition

How to create an effective and action-oriented online petition

Using social media to promote your petition

Sharing the petition with your personal network

Asking high profile individuals to sign your petition

How to promote an online petition and get signatures for maximum impact

Using petitions as a tool in larger advocacy campaigns

Encouraging people to continue their support through offline action

Turning an online petition into offline action

Summary - wrap up video

Radio Zamaneh

This course introduces participants, mainly journalists and civil society advocates, to the
right to information (or right to access information held by public officials), how to use that
right to advance freedom of expression and other human rights, and how to advocate for
strong protection for this right.

The right to information for human rights advocacy

Using Strategic Litigation to Combat Internet Shutdowns

Toby Mendel

Twitter: @tobymendel

Introduction to the right to information

Introduction

Key principles governing the right to information

Key framework of a strong RTI law

International and regional RTI instruments

Assessing RTI through ratings

Legal framework for the right to information

Basic outline for how you make a request for information

Some key tips to improve your request

Issues in law to look out for when making a request

Some likely scenarios and responses when making a request

Making requests for information

Overview of international standards regarding exceptions (Pakistan case study)

Case study: Overview of international standards regarding exceptions

Elaboration of the three-part test for exceptions

Key challenges of applying exceptions in practice

Table of common exceptions

Exceptions to the right to information

Key reasons why you may need an appeal

Overview of the key options for appeals

Features of national levels of appeals

What you need to include in an appeal to make it more effective

Options for appeal beyond the national level

Understanding appeals

Advocacy approaches that have proven useful in trying to get a right to information l

Actions to improve RTI implementation

Highlights of some of the work civil society is doing in other countries

An example of successful grassroots use of RTI from India

Advocacy and RTI

Centre for Law and Democracy

This course is intended as a guide to using open source research methods in practice, with a focus on human rights investigation and advocacy. It will provide detailed instruction on cutting-edge tools and techniques of OSINT through lessons taught by experts and practical training exercises.

Open source investigations for human rights: Part 1

Open source investigations for human rights: Part 2

Sam Dubberley

@samdubberley

Overview of tools

Platform Neutral searching

Twitter for discovery

YouTube for discovery

Facebook for discovery

Social media discovery exercise

Translation Tools and Techniques

Discovery tools

Overview of monitoring tools

Monitoring with Tweetdeck

Monitoring with Snap Map

Exercise

Social media monitoring tools

Preservation and Documentation overview

Preservation Basics

Importance of documentation for human rights fact-finding and legal accountability

Case Study of data structuring (US Protests)

Preservation and documentation

Fundamentals of Verification Review

Reverse image search for photos

Reverse image search for videos

Exercise practising reverse image search

Exif data

InVID plug-in

InVID Exercise

Verification tools

Introduction to geolocation

Google Earth Pro tutorial

Other useful tools - Mapping and Streetview imagery

Case study - Looking at buildings - Idlib hospitals

Case study - Looking at buildings - Hong Kong (street view)

Case Study - Panorama (Somalia)

Case Study - Topography (Myanmar)

Chronolocation

Chronolocation and geolocation exercise

Geolocation

Intro to Advanced Open Source Techniques

Weapons Analysis Basics

Case study - Yemen

Satellite imagery and Remote Sensing

Case Study - Myanmar

Advanced Open Source Techniques

Amnesty International

This course provides an introduction to methods and best-practice of open source research, and the ways that these new methods of information gathering can be used for human rights reporting and documentation.

What is open source investigation?

How is open source investigation used in human rights advocacy?

Interview with Amnesty expert talking about specific use cases/value of open source

US protests case study

Introduction to open source investigation

The basics of verification & why it matters

Developing a verification mindset

Verification puzzle: who, what, where & when?

Overview of basic tools used in verification

Quiz: identify clues to answer basic questions about set of images

How Amnesty uses verification

What is verification?

Identifying what needs verification

Checklist for verifying content

Establishing a workflow

Case study: Libya debunk

How to verify content: putting it all together

Setting up a workstation: getting ready to verify information

Ethical concerns about using open source information

‘Blind spots’ of open source evidence for human rights investigations

Online safety and digital security

Before you begin: challenges, pitfalls, and safety

What is vicarious trauma?

Why is it important to know about vicarious trauma?

Psychosocial mitigation tips

Technical mitigation tips

Quiz: vicarious trauma and mitigation

Resiliency, vicarious trauma and mental health

Advocates rely on international human rights standards to hold governments to their legal obligations and for developing effective advocacy strategies. For example, activists using commitments their state has made to demand legislative change in their country, so that the country implements at home what it commits to at the UN. In order to understand the substance of international human rights law, advocates and researchers need to identify what the treaty texts and human rights bodies say about particular human rights or legal concepts. Unfortunately, there is no centralized database of international human rights law (yet).

Researching human rights law for advocacy

Friedhelm Weinberg

Courses

Human Rights Monitoring, Reporting and Advocacy

Human Rights Monitoring, Reporting and Advocacy

Human Rights in Practice: The Right to Freedom of Religion or Belief

Human Rights in Practice: The Right to Freedom of Religion or Belief

Online Petitioning for Advocacy in Iran

Online Petitioning for Advocacy in Iran

The right to information for human rights advocacy

The right to information for human rights advocacy

Open source investigations for human rights: Part 2

Open source investigations for human rights: Part 2

Open source investigations for human rights: Part 1

Open source investigations for human rights: Part 1

Researching human rights law for advocacy

Researching human rights law for advocacy

Making an impact with the Universal Periodic Review

Making an impact with the Universal Periodic Review

Introduction to the Universal Periodic Review

Introduction to the Universal Periodic Review

Audio for Advocacy: Podcasts and Storytelling

Audio for Advocacy: Podcasts and Storytelling

Succeeding Together: Forming Effective Groups for Advocacy

Succeeding Together: Forming Effective Groups for Advocacy

Capturing, Storing & Sharing Video Evidence

Capturing, Storing & Sharing Video Evidence

Five top tips to improve your video skills

Five top tips to improve your video skills

How to create ‘People Powered’ Campaigns

How to create ‘People Powered’ Campaigns

Documenting and reporting human rights abuses using testimony

Documenting and reporting human rights abuses using testimony

Developing SMART Goals for Successful Strategies

Developing SMART Goals for Successful Strategies