A New Battlefront: The Effect of Commercial Spyware on Independent Media

Описание: In a new battlefront against the free flow of information, the growth of the commercial spyware industry is providing repressive governments with sophisticated tools to surveil, harass, and attack independent journalists and their sources.

In a new CIMA report, Samuel Woodhams argues that the proliferation of spyware poses safety risks, encourages self-censorship, and creates new financial and operational strains for news outlets. Woodhams makes the case that protecting independent media from the threat of spyware requires sustained collaboration between media advocates, human rights organizations, journalists, and policymakers.

On Wednesday September 29th CIMA hosted an online panel discussion with the report author and other experts who are tracking how the spread of commercial spyware is affecting independent journalism in emerging democracies. The discussion explored how the use of spyware is undermining broader media development efforts and what can be done about it.

Learn more about this event and our speakers at cima.ned.org: https://www.cima.ned.org/event/a-new-...

In response to congressional concerns about the future of media assistance programs, the National Endowment for Democracy established the Center for International Media Assistance (CIMA) toward the end of 2006 with a grant from the State Department. CIMA strives to build a foundation of knowledge for media development donors, implementers, and civil society actors on best practices and solutions for improving media systems. We do this because we believe media plays an indispensable role in the creation and development of sustainable democracies.

CIMA focuses on four cross-cutting issue areas in media development: effectiveness, sustainability, innovation, and funding. Together, they encompass efforts to improve the capacity and quality of the media sector. Learn more at https://www.cima.ned.org/.

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The National Endowment for Democracy is a private, nonprofit foundation dedicated to the growth and strengthening of democratic institutions around the world. Each year, NED makes more than 2,000 grants to support the projects of non-governmental groups abroad who are working for democratic goals in more than 100 countries. Learn more at https://www.ned.org/

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