Original version of the Threatened Voices platform, 2009-2014.
Threatened Voices launched in November 2009 as a collaborative mapping project to build a database of bloggers who were threatened, arrested or killed for speaking out online and to create a platform to support advocacy for their freedom and safety. Imagined and designed by Sami Ben Gharbia, who was Global Voices Advox Director from 2007–2012, Threatened Voices filled a crucial gap in understanding about human rights reporting, focusing on threats to bloggers, unaffiliated citizen activists, and people being targeted purely for their online activities. At the time, most documentation of human rights abuses focused on political activists, media, and writers and artists. Threatened Voices aimed to highlight the import and consequences of online expression, as described for example, in Jillian York’s article the Arab Digital Vanguard: How a Decade of Blogging Contributed to a Year of Revolution.
From 2009–2013, Threatened Voices documented 900+ cases of individuals targeted for their online expression, at the time the largest dataset of harms of this type. Threatened Voices researchers worked with the people in the dataset in order to ensure that the data did not present a risk to them, and also relied on publicly available records. The project was supported almost wholly by volunteer contributions. The Electronic Frontier Foundation collaborated with the project under the brand Bloggers Under Fire, hosted a version of the site on their platform, and contributed research and shared updates about the status of threatened individuals.
In 2013, with a grant from UNESCO, Threatened Voices contributors gathered in Casablanca, Morocco, together with representatives from the Media Legal Defence Initiative, the Berkman Center for Internet and Society, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Amnesty International, the Committee to Protect Journalists, and the UN’s Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner. This group devised a new data structure, and organized threats by technological interference, physical harm, intimidation, and judicial or legal threat.
In 2014 Threatened Voices, with funds from Hivos, Omidyar Network, the MacArthur Foundation and the Ford Foundation, and in collaboration with Visualizing Impact, began building a new platform to expand the research. A team of researchers, coders, data visualization experts, writers and human rights experts, including Ellery Roberts Biddle, Hisham Almiraat, Vaibhav Bhawsar, Ivan Sigal, Ramzi Jaber, Jessica Anderson, and Moraad Taleeb rebuilt the methods and the platform, informed by the Huridocs Events Standard Formats and verified and updated 519 cases in the dataset.
Threatened Voices platform display of Egyptian activist Alaa Abd El Fattah timeline of events, 2006-2015.
The project aimed to develop a stronger network of regular, expert contributors for the site to keep the information current and accurate. Overall, the project sought to provide legal advocacy specialists, researchers, journalists, and policymakers with accurate, useful data on real world threats to individuals practicing their rights to online speech. This information would help advocates and researchers understand the dynamics of individual cases and trends over time. It would also provide data that helps them advocate for stronger legal protections for online speakers at national and international levels. A second goal was to increase awareness of threats to individuals for the general public.
Version two of the Threatened Voices platform, 2016.
At the same time as this platform was nearing completion in 2017, we were observing a significant shift in the nature of threats to online expression, marked by mass online surveillance, repression of speech at scale, targeting of people for acts as simple as liking or sharing content, and an escalation of the nature of the threat to individuals in many states. The work of documenting threats was becoming expensive, labor-intensive and a challenge to the mental health of people doing the research. The idea of an online repository of cases itself seemed as if it might create risk for the people in the dataset, in ways that were not true in the past. Also, as online activity became a ubiquitous element of activism and expression, the lines between online and offline activism and expression of rights became less significant.
In 2018, after consideration, consultation with partners and outreach to people in the dataset, Global Voices decided to shutter the project. We concluded it with an offline installation of the work in 2019, at the Slought Gallery in Philadelphia. Captures of the original Threatened Voices dataset live on at the Internet Archive and in nearly 500 stories on the Global Voices website, categorized under the topic Threatened Voices.
Slought Gallery offline installation of Threatened Voices, 2019. Photo: Ivan Sigal.
Threatened Voices research methods have also taken on another life, as the basis for threat analysis for the Unfreedom Monitor, an Advox research project that explored technology and authoritarian practices in 20 countries, from 2021–2023, which includes over 70 stories and 25 research papers.
We continue to use the categorization developed during the project as it applies to stories we publish today.
Stories about Threatened Voices from July, 2015
German Digital Rights Pioneers Investigated for Treason
The last time a German journalist was charged with treason was in 1962, when the editor-in-chief of Der Spiegel was prosecuted for publishing secret documents about the German defense forces.
Netizen Report: You Can’t Encrypt, But We Can Spy
"...the revelations have touched a nerve with certain Global Voices community members who are now virtually certain that their own communications devices were infected and monitored using Hacking Team spyware."
What You Need to Know About Ethiopia v. Zone9 Bloggers: Verdict Expected July 20
Ethiopia's Zone9 bloggers have appeared in court 30 times in 15 months, and been adjourned each time. "This is no anomaly in Ethiopia’s highly compromised judiciary system," says Endalk Chala.
Netizen Report: Leaked Documents Reveal Egregious Abuse of Power by Venezuela in Twitter Arrests
China moves to "legalize" the Great Firewall, Telegram gets DDoSed, and Russia passes its own Right to Be Forgotten, plus more highlights from the Hacking Team hack.
Australian Artist Jailed in UAE For Posting “Bad Words” on Facebook
An Australian artist found herself thrown into an Abu Dhabi prison and deported for posting a photograph of a car blocking a disabled parking spot.
In Sweeping Effort to Spy on Civil Society, Macedonia Broke Its Own Privacy Laws
"When such a government wiretaps you, it means that you are on the right track," says NGO worker Xhabir Deralla.
Bahrain Releases Human Rights Activist Nabeel Rajab, Only to Send Another Activist Back to Jail
Bahrain released from prison rights activist Nabeel Rajab, and then renewed the detention of political leader Ibrahim Sharif for 15 days. Is the government playing chess with political dissidents?
Serbian Authorities Take Control of A Man's Facebook Account Following Alleged Threats Against PM Vucic
Police in Serbia seem to have overstepped boundaries in search and seizure proceedings, taking over a personal Facebook account without a court order.
Ethiopians React to Bloggers’ Release With Compassion, Criticism
Supporters of the Zone9 blogging collective are expressing both joy and bitterness at the release of some -- but not all -- of the bloggers from prison last week.
Bangladesh Activists Have Little Faith in Blogger Murder Investigations
"They are [attacking] bloggers because the Internet penetration is still low in the country and they want to silence freedom of speech that exposes their narratives and political message."
ISIS Hacks Syrian Observatory for Human Rights Website and Threatens its Director
The ISIS cyber army allegedly threatened Observatory director Rami Abdelrahman for his role in documenting human rights abuses committed by all parties in the ongoing war in Syria.
Netizen Report: Ethiopians Demand Release of All Jailed Journalists Approaching Obama Visit
As five of the Ethiopia's Zone9 bloggers walk free, with four still in prison, Venezuela blames Internet outages on protesters and Arab activists respond to the Hacking Team hack.
Five Ethiopian Journalists Freed From Prison, But Others Remain Behind Bars
Alongside an outpouring of joy and disbelief over the bloggers' release, supporters urged each other to keep "tantrummin" until there are no more journalists jailed in Ethiopia.
For Arab Human Rights Defenders, Hacking Team Files Confirm Suspicions of State Surveillance
"Rights groups knew Egypt using Hacking Team spyware since 2012; Sunday's hack just proved it," says Egyptian activist Ramy Raoof.
Edom Kassaye: An Ethiopian Journalist Jailed for Her Integrity
"I believe it was Edom’s willingness to bring about change in Ethiopia’s polarized political environment that suggested an affinity between her and the Zone9 blogging collective. We shared common principles."
Netizen Report: Scholars in Colombia, Kazakhstan Face Legal Challenges for Sharing Research
As academic freedoms wane from Kazakhstan to Colombia, a Dutch court goes after Facebook, and the tech industry says cheerio to the UK.
