HRJN partners Internet Society, Access Now to equip Human Rights Defenders with Encryption Workshop

The Human Rights Journalists Network Nigeria (HRJN) in partnership with Internet Society and Access Now held an Encryption Workshop to equip human rights defenders with essential encryption skills for safeguarding sensitive information, ensuring secure communication, and enhancing digital resilience in their advocacy efforts on Thursday at the Civic Hive, Montgomery Road, Yaba, Lagos.
The Human Rights Journalists Network Nigeria (HRJN) in partnership with Internet Society and Access Now held an Encryption Workshop to equip human rights defenders with essential encryption skills for safeguarding sensitive information, ensuring secure communication, and enhancing digital resilience in their advocacy efforts on Thursday at the Civic Hive, Montgomery Road, Yaba, Lagos.

The Human Rights Journalists Network Nigeria (HRJN) in partnership with Internet Society and Access Now held an Encryption Workshop to equip human rights defenders with essential encryption skills for safeguarding sensitive information, ensuring secure communication, and enhancing digital resilience in their advocacy efforts on Thursday at the Civic Hive, Montgomery Road, Yaba, Lagos.

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The Executive Director, Human Rights Journalists Network Nigeria (HRJN), Mr. Kehinde Adegboyega in his opening remark appreciated participants for coming early despite the morning downpour.

He also expressed gratitude to Internet Society for their contribution and AccessNow for partnering with HRJN for the workshop to equip human rights journalists, civil societies and other relevant professionals with essential encryption skills for safeguarding sensitive information.

Adegboyega urged participants of the well-attended event which included both physical and visual audiences of human rights journalists, civil societies a host of other right defenders to take advantage of the workshop to explore the various encryption skills proffered by the facilitators for safeguarding sensitive information and challenges at the course of their day to day activities.

He stated that “this workshop, supported by the Internet Society in partnership with Access Now, will help to equip participants with practical encryption skills to safeguard sensitive information, enhance secure communication, and build digital resilience”.

The Keynote Speaker, Senior Policy Counsel and Encryption Policy Lead, Access Now, Namrata Maheshwari, in her address stated that there are strands of similarity between the role of encryption and journalism today, and why journalists are at the core of any attempt to preserve encryption and the rights it serves to protect.

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Maheshwari further noted that “Journalists like yourselves help hold power to account at a time when technology is both a tool for empowerment, and a lever for authoritarian control”.

“Encryption sits neatly at the intersection of these two competing interests. In an internet[1]driven world, it is our engine for privacy and free expression. And it is therefore a topic that has united many, and unfortunately, also divided many” she alluded.

“Broadly, on the hand are civil society, rights defenders, journalists, technologists and policymakers who actually understand how encryption works, and ground legislative proposals in real world impact. They appreciate that any interception capability, that weakens encryption and snoops on our private chats, no matter how tailored, is a backdoor that damages people’s privacy and enables exploitation”.

While rounding up she noted that “We must help ensure that existing service providers and platforms push back against attempts by governments to weaken privacy. Awareness and demand should compel more service providers to offer end-to-end encrypted services, making it the norm. And making it harder for governments to single out platforms to exert pressure”.

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“Finally, we need to see that encryption is a means to an end; the end goal is to protect privacy and free speech. It is the strongest means we have today and it must be protected at all costs. But this is a conduit which must be used to channelise wider calls for change in the surveillance-based tech landscape, and for prioritisation of people and privacy in the process of how tech and legal frameworks are designed and deployed. This is where our institutions will be answerable, rights will be protected and the free press will thrive”.

“And we should not settle for less” she concluded.

Other facilitators also proffered encryption apps and have hands-on training on how participants can secure their information.

 

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