UN's Cybercrime Convention Draft: A Slippery Slope for LGBTQ+ and Gender Rights

This post is divided into two parts. Part I looks at the draft UN's Cybercrime Convention and its potential implications for LGBTQ+ rights. Part II provides a closer look at how cybercrime laws might specifically impact the LGBTQ+ community and...

Proposed UN Cybercrime Treaty Threatens to be an Expansive Global Surveillance Pact

This is Part V in EFF’s ongoing series about the proposed UN Cybercrime Convention. Read Part I for a quick snapshot of the ins and outs of the zero draft; Part II for a deep dive on Chapter IV dealing with domestic surveillance powers; Part III...

Proposed Cybercrime Treaty’s International Cooperation Provisions Could Let Tyrants Run Amok

This is the third segment in EFF’s series on the proposed UN Cybercrime Convention focusing on Chapter V, International Cooperation. Read Part I for a quick snap of what ins and outs of the zero draft, and Part II for a deep dive on Chapter IV,...

UN Cybercrime Convention Negotiations Enter Final Phase With Troubling Surveillance Powers Still on the Table

This is Part II of EFF’s analysis of the first draft of the UN Cybercrime Convention. Part I is here. As one of the last negotiating sessions to finalize the UN Cybercrime Convention approaches, it’s important to remember that the outcome and...

First Draft of UN Cybercrime Convention Drops Troubling Provisions, But Dangerous And Open-Ended Cross Border Surveillance Powers Are Back on the Table

This is Part I of a two-part post about the first draft of the UN Cybercrime Convention. Part I provides background on treaty negotiations and analyzes our first take on the Zero draft and its human rights implications. Part II analyzes the...

Congress Must Exercise Caution in AI Regulation

Artificial intelligence technologies (AI) are all the rage in Washington D.C. these days. Policymakers are hearing stories of utopian opportunities and certain doom from technologists, CEOs, and public interest groups and trying to figure out when...

States Should Not Skirt Federal Rules on Fiber Infrastructure

Across the country, states are designing broadband plans to begin spending billions of federal dollars made available by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and past COVID-19 rescue dollar investment programs. The Biden...

Bad Content Moderation Is Bad, And Government Interference Can Make It Even Worse

This week, the House Energy and Commerce Committee held a hearing titled “Preserving Free Speech and Reining in Big Tech Censorship.” Lawmakers at the hearing trotted out the usual misunderstandings of these concepts, and placed the blame on...

This Texas Bill Would Systematically Silence Anyone Who Dares to Talk About Abortion Pills

Texas State Representative Steve Toth recently introduced a bill that targets the most viable form of safe and effective abortion access today—medication abortion.House Bill (HB) 2690 seeks to prevent the sale and distribution of abortion pills...

Why is New York City Removing Free Broadband In Favor of Charter?

In January 2020, former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced New York City’s Internet Master Plan, setting a path to deliver broadband for low-income New Yorkers by investing in public fiber infrastructure. The plan was a clear response to...

We Finally Have a Federal Fiber Broadband Plan

There is a lot to appreciate in the recently published “Notice of Funding Opportunity” (NOFO) by the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications Information Administration (NTIA). It is arguably the first federal government proposal that...

Senate Commerce Committee is Letting Big Telecom Hamstring the FCC

Six months have passed since the Biden Administration signed an Executive Order to restore Net Neutrality at the FCC. And three months have passed since the President nominated net neutrality champion Gigi Sohn, a member of the EFF board, to the...

Indonesian Court Allows Internet Blocking During Unrest, Tightening Law Enforcement Control Over Users’ Communications and Data

Indonesia’s Constitutional Court dealt another blow to the free expression and online privacy rights of the country’s 191 million internet users, ruling that the government can lawfully block internet access during periods of social unrest. The...

Federal Agencies Need to Be Staffed to Advance Broadband and Tech Competition

In the U.S., we need better internet. We need oversight over Big Tech, ISPs, and other large companies. We need the federal agencies with the powers to advance competition, protect privacy, and empower consumers to be fully staffed and working....

Why Data-Sharing Mandates Are the Wrong Way To Regulate Tech

The tech companies behind the so-called “sharing economy” have drawn the ire of brick-and-mortar businesses and local governments across the country. For example, take-out apps such as GrubHub and UberEats have grown into a hundred-billion-dollar...

The Bipartisan Broadband Bill: Good, But It Won’t End the Digital Divide

The U.S. Senate is on the cusp of approving an infrastructure package, which passed a critical first vote last night by 67-32. Negotiations on the final bill are ongoing, but late yesterday NBC News had the draft broadband provisions. There is a...

India’s Draconian Rules for Internet Platforms Threaten User Privacy and Undermine Encryption

The Indian government’s new Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code (“2021 Rules”) pose huge problems for free expression and Internet users’ privacy. They include dangerous requirements for platforms to identify the origins of...

A Wide, Diverse Coalition Agrees on What Congress Needs to Do About Our Broadband

A massive number of groups representing interests as diverse as education, agriculture, tech sector, public and private broadband providers, low-income advocacy, workers, and urban and rural community economic development entities came together to...

The New ACCESS Act Is a Good Start. Here’s How to Make Sure It Delivers.

We’ve praised the ACCESS Act as “a step towards a more interoperable future.” However, the bill currently before Congress is just a first step, and it’s far from perfect. While we strongly agree with the authors’ intent, some important changes...