In June 2023, Executive Director Marlyn Tadros attended the 53rd session of the Human Rights Council (19 June to 14 July 2023) in Geneva, Switzerland at the UN headquarters. UNHRC is an intergovernmental body within the United Nations system responsible for promoting and protecting human rights globally, with 47 member states elected by the UN General…
Apparently Microsoft’s new ChatGPT AI is having a nervous breakdown. It started sending ‘unhinged’ messages to people, according to the Independent newspaper. Looking further into the matter, it seems that it hurled insults at people who were attempting to hack it or to get it to spit out its code secrets. For example, in conversations…
VA and the Egyptian Human Rights Forum will be presenting a panel at CSW67 on March 8th entitled: Current/Emerging Tech: Enhancing Gender Equality or Exacerbating Authoritarian Abuse? The digital revolution has brought about many advancements and opportunities for women and for human rights defenders, but it has also raised concerns about its impact on gender…
SecondEye is a product that was developed in Iran by a web and development company in Iran named UltimateSoft Co, and marketed as a parenting or employee surveillance tool. However, it has been reportedly repurposed and used as spyware known as EyeSpy. The malware is allegedly deployed by disguising it as a free VPN package…
The United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) was established in 1946 as a functional commission of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). Its mandate is to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women. The commission meets annually for a two-week session in New York, during which member states, UN…
It’s difficult to say for certain what the latest tech trends for 2023 will be as the future is always subject to change, however some general tech trends that are likely to continue gaining momentum in the coming years include: if an autonomous weapon system is not able to distinguish between combatants and civilians, it…
In our assessment at Virtual Activism, in general, technology trends that are likely to continue gaining momentum in the coming years include the increased use of artificial intelligence and machine learning, the growing prevalence of the Internet of Things, and the ongoing shift towards cloud computing. Additionally, virtual and augmented reality, 5G networks, and blockchain…
The impact of Pegasus on fundamental rights and democratic processes Pegasus is a sophisticated surveillance software developed by the Israeli cyber intelligence company NSO Group. The software is capable of gaining access to and monitoring a wide range of information on a target’s smartphone, including text messages, emails, location data, and even live microphone and…
