July 24 2025 GM
From TCU Wiki
What is Happening in Digital Rights Around the World?
- Date: Thursday, July 24
- Time: 9am EDT / 1pm UTC
- Facilitator: Mardiya
- Where: On TCU Mattermost "IF Square" Channel.
- Don't have an account to the TCU Mattermost? you can request one following the directions here.
Come to share emerging and existing digital rights conversations happening around the world and in your region at this Glitter Meetup! There is something new, specific or special that you would like to bring to the technology and human rights table? Join us and let's talk about it!
What is Glitter Meetup?
Glitter Meetup is the weekly town hall of the digital rights and Internet Freedom community at the IF Square on the TCU Mattermost, at 9am EDT / 2pm UTC. It is a text-based chat where digital rights defenders can share regional and project updates, expertise, ask questions, and connect with others from all over the world! Do you need an invite? Learn how to get one here.
Notes
ED Tech
- We discussed with the community topics related to ED Tech. A lot of these workshops have been looking at how we need to be careful about just imposing new AI technologies on schools without giving parents, teachers and pupils a say, or without giving them all the information they need to be fully informed and exercise their right to reject such tech being used on them.
- Especially in the global north we're seeing education policymakers buy into the AI hype and practically make teachers to use it in everything, but teachers and other society actors have been giving serious pushback for many reasons. It applies to LMS but also other stuff like homework marking tools or use of generative AI for lesson planning.
Tech Policing in India
- There are some disturbing news coming from tech related policy developments in India. The Ministry of Railways plans to install facial recognition software at key stations that witness high footfalls across the country, including New Delhi and Mumbai. The latter was one of the sites of a deadly terrorist attack in 2008. Secondly, a state down south has tabled a bill that exclusively looks at curbing mis- and disinformation but policy analysts and civil society more broadly have already expressed their deepest concerns regarding the vague wording in the law. Critics see the bill as a way of cracking down on freedom of speech.
- Civil society, academics, and policy analysts have shared their concerns even as the Centre (India's Parliament) is relentlessly pushing ahead with its plans. The ruling political party has too strong a grip on India's polity for any strong opposition-driven narratives to ground themselves. The Supreme Court, interestingly, is trying to play a balancing act but they too - in my opinion - have appeared to be swinging to the right in recent months if their judgements on certain matters are anything to go by.
- There are more but they escape my memory at the moment. Here are a few references to the above developments, one from Times of India and other from Reuters.
