Radhika Jhalani

Radhika is Volunteer Legal Counsel and heads the Internet Shutdowns and Free Speech Project at the Software Freedom Law Center (SFLC.in.) She also imparts Digital Security Training on behalf of SFLC.in.

Prior to this, she was a Digital Defender fellow at SFLC.in. She graduated in philosophy from Hindu College and received a law degree from Delhi University in 2019. In addition to technology and human rights, she is passionate about culture, environment, and mental health. She previously ran operations for an online film archive.

Salma Razick

Salma Razick holds a bachelor's degree in International Development and currently works as a Project Data Associate for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Sri Lanka. She has gained professional experience in project management, monitoring and evaluation, and strategic communications through her previous work at Verite Research and the United Nations Resident Coordinators Office. Her work has centered on advocating for open data and better transparency of public finance in Sri Lanka.

David Aragort

David Aragort is passionate about freedom of expression and the role of technologies such as the internet in defending human rights in Latin America. He currently works as a digital security trainer for journalists, human rights defenders, activists and other at-risk communities in countries with a repressive context such as Venezuela and Cuba, as well as in other countries in the region like Colombia and Brazil. He is also co-author of the annual public report of the Venezuelan digital rights defender NGO RedesAyuda.

Lourdes Walusala

Lourdes is an award-winning radio journalist at the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC), a state-run media house that broadcasts in English, Kiswahili and most local languages in Kenya. Due to her passion for advocating for women’s rights, she co-founded Sisters for a Sister Initiative to strengthen the resilience and ability of women in media and politics to recognise and respond to digital threats and attacks, as a result, navigate the internet without fear.

Ananda Gautam

Ananda Gautam is an evidence-based policymaking and civic technologies enthusiast and a very active contributor to internet governance issues in the Asia-Pacific region. He currently works as a policy officer at the Internet Governance Institute. His works are aligned in the periphery of open data, internet governance, data analytics, research, and civic technologies deployment.

The New Censorship: Why Protecting Journalists Online from Harassment is Critical to Press Freedom

The rise of social media platforms provides many opportunities to the more than half a billion  internet users in Africa, including increased access to information and extended social networks. However, these platforms pose new challenges to protecting the safety of journalists.

Tracking the Tracking Apps: COVID-19 in SEE+: Action Items for Future Pandemics

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted nearly every aspect of public life. Virtually unprecedented, the public health crisis required an emergency response. That response, however, has brought with it a new set of concerns that might have a lasting impact well beyond the pandemic. Privacy is under serious threat. Governments rushed to deploy tracking apps in an effort to curb the spread of the virus by facilitating contact tracing and monitoring for compliance with self-isolation regimes.

Guidelines for Newsrooms in West Africa

The explosive growth of social media use around the world has opened up many new opportunities for journalism. At the same time, these platforms are becoming increasingly dangerous for journalists. Women in particular experience seemingly endless streams of heinous online attacks, simply for doing their jobs. Constant threats that sometimes lead to real-world violence have taken their toll on journalists’ mental health, impacting their ability to report on crucial issues.