Advox is delighted to partner with the Small Media Foundation to bring you the UPROAR initiative, a collection of essays highlighting challenges in digital rights in countries undergoing the UN’s Universal Periodic Review process, which is conducted by the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights. For the Universal Periodic Review the human rights records of UN Member states are reviewed on a four-year cycle. This process is a chance for each state to inform the UN and other observers of human rights in their countries about the actions they have taken to protect the rights of their residents.

At Advox, we affirm that digital rights are human rights. We support the expansion of the human rights review to include the protection of digital rights. The countries from which these essays have come are undergoing their UPR review in a specific cycle; this platform is an opportunity to illuminate the progress and the challenges that they face with the implementation of digital rights. Internet controls, censorship, intimidation of journalists and discrimination of minority groups online are some of the issues that our pieces highlight. Our stories show that while there is much to celebrate, there is still a long way in the protection for digital rights of all people. Our stories also show the creative ways that advocates are harnessing digital technologies to demand respect for their human rights. We are grateful to all the contributors who share these stories with us and we hope that they invite a renewed commitment to protecting the digital rights of people all over the world. 

Read the stories