Digital Rights Weekly Update: 20 - 26 June

Data flows and digital repression: Civil society urges EU to reassess Israel’s adequacy status

EDRI

Today, EDRi, Access Now and a coalition of civil society organisations issued a second open letter to the European Commission calling for an urgent reassessment of Israel’s status as an ‘adequate’ country under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The letter follows a first intervention in April 2024, and is made public the day after the EU foreign policy chief presents to European foreign ministers a document affirming “…indications that Israel would be in breach of its human rights obligations under article 2 of the EU-Israel association agreement”. The EU’s inaction in the face of such a compelling finding ignores civil society calls to suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement, and aligns with broader demands to reassess the entirety of the EU’s relationship with Israel in light of its escalating human rights violations and disregard for international law.

Internet and Phone Outage in Much of Gaza Disrupts Humanitarian Operations and Deepens Isolation

US News

The Gaza Strip has experienced at least 10 communications outages since the war began in October 2023, according to Palestinian telecom company Paltel. CAIRO (AP) — A breakdown in communications networks in central and southern Gaza has cut many Palestinians off from the outside world for the past week, further straining aid efforts and emergency services amid continuing Israeli bombardment. Israeli strikes damaged a main connection, cutting off communications in large areas of the strip since Tuesday, according to the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, based in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The telecom company Paltel said Friday that internet and landline services were restored in some areas in southern Gaza, including Khan Younis, with repairs ongoing in other southern and central areas.

CAIR Sues Meta for Discriminatory Treatment of Muslim Employee Over Pro-Palestine, Anti-Genocide Advocacy

CAIR

The Legal Defense Fund of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, filed a lawsuit today against Meta for discriminatory treatment of Mohammed Feras Majeed over pro-Palestine, anti-genocide advocacy. CAIR’s lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, Austin Division, alleges that Meta violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Chapter 21 of the Texas Labor Code. It states in part: “Meta discriminated against Plaintiff based on his religious identity as a Muslim by forcing him to choose between expressing his sincerely held religious belief and maintaining his employment. Meta silenced Plaintiff’s expressions of religious solidarity with the Muslim community during the ongoing genocide in Gaza—a subject central to Plaintiff’s faith—while permitting similarly situated non-Muslim employees to speak freely about other humanitarian and political crises.”

Israeli military’s use of AI in Gaza, destruction of civilian infrastructure devastating: security expert

DAWN

Indiscriminate use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) by Israel in its Gaza invasion led to devastating consequences for civilians and essential infrastructure, a senior security expert has said.“There is no legal accountability as well. Under international humanitarian law, armed forces must distinguish between combatants and civilians and take precautions but critics argue that AI can hardly make these distinctions.” He said that Gaza conflict showed that the digital realm has emerged as the newest battleground in modern warfare, transforming traditional concepts of conflict, sovereignty and security. He said that civil society, human rights organisations and international institutions should ensure implementation of a host of measures like ensuring human control, oversight, internal legal frameworks, transparency, accountability and humanitarian safeguards to avoid risks to humans and essential infrastructure.