Welcome to the Advocacy Assembly Shutdown Academy

Internet shutdowns are on the rise globally. In 2021, 182 shutdowns in 34 countries around the world were documented, according to Access Now. As internet disruption and shutdowns are often accompanied by state repression, military invasions, and violence, it has never been more important to educate activists, journalists, and citizens affected by internet disruptions and online censorship.

This is why we have launched the Advocacy Assembly Shutdown Academy -- to share all the valuable knowledge and skills needed to help people to identify, measure, circumvent and advocate against shutdowns.

What can you learn with the Advocacy Assembly Shutdown Academy?

This curriculum features 10 free online courses in eight languages designed to educate activists, journalists, or anyone impacted by internet disruption. The courses are presented in English and translated into Arabic, French, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Swahili. You will learn everything from the basics and general concepts of internet shutdowns to more specialised topics like measuring and mitigating them as well as advocating and litigating against them.

Below you will find a list of all of the courses along with the organisations presenting them.

Courses & Partners:

1. Documenting Human Rights Violations During Shutdowns (WITNESS)
2. Measuring Internet Censorship with OONI tools & open data (OONI)
3. Introduction to Shutdowns (Access Now)
4. Documenting Shutdowns: Network Measurements (IODA)
5. Developing an Action Plan for Internet Shutdowns (Internews)
6. Engaging With the Private Sector To End Shutdowns (GNI)
7. Mitigating Online Censorship (VESinFiltro)
8. Mitigating Internet Shutdowns (VESinFiltro)
9. Advocating & Campaigning Against Internet Shutdowns (Access Now)
10. Using Strategic Litigation to Combat Internet Shutdowns (CLD)

Take our first course presented by WITNESS

The launch of the Advocacy Assembly Shutdown Academy begins with our first course, “Documenting human rights violations during internet shutdowns”, presented by Yvonne Ng from WITNESS.

With internet shutdowns becoming a popular weapon of choice for authoritarian regimes to stamp out dissent, violations that happen during political unrest alongside online censorship make documenting human rights abuse even more difficult. In this course, you’ll learn practical tips and tools to document and share human rights violations with video in the face of online censorship and blanket internet shutdowns. You’ll learn all the necessary techniques and tools so that your documentation is preserved, verifiable, and can reach others during internet shutdowns.
Sign up: https://advocacyassembly.org/en/courses/62/#/chapter/1/lesson/1

"Measuring internet censorship with OONI tools and Open Data" presented by Maria Xynou from the Open Observatory.

Almost every country in the world experiences some form of internet censorship. What differs is the impact of their block. Through this course, human rights defenders will learn how to measure internet censorship through the use of OONI tools. You will also learn how to access and interpret real-time OONI data on internet censorship around the world.

Sign up: https://advocacyassembly.org/en/courses/63/#/chapter/1/lesson/1