Laura Vidal

October in the Americas: A free expression and civic space round-up produced by IFEX's Regional Editor Laura Vidal, based on IFEX member reports and news from the region.
October in the Americas witnessed intensifying pressures on freedom of expression, with new legislative actions and escalating threats to journalists marking a difficult month for civic space.

Hace poco hablé en el espacio radial del Observatorio de la Diáspora Venezolana sobre los desafíos del control de la información en Venezuela. La censura, la vigilancia y las restricciones digitales son obstáculos que enfrentamos cada día en la defensa de los #DerechosDigitales. Como sociedad civil y diáspora, tenemos la responsabilidad de educarnos en seguridad digital para fortalecer nuestras redes de confianza y resistencia.

This is part one of a series. Part two on the legacy of Venezuela’s state surveillance is forthcoming.

As thousands of Venezuelans took to the streets across the country to demand transparency in July’s election results, the ensuing repression has been described as the harshest to date, with technology playing a central role in facilitating this crackdown.
The presidential elections in Venezuela ...

Desde 2012 me he dedicado a estudiar los modos y los espacios con potencial para el aprendizaje de la comunicación intercultural, o más a secas, la interculturalidad. Empecé estudiando comunidades en línea, entusiasmada y muy segura del gran potencial que existe cuando personas de muchos países se encuentran e intercambian historias. Mi prisma fue el de los aprendizajes informales, o aquellos que se dan fuera de ámbitos oficiales, como la escuela o las universidades.

This month, we focus on the student protest actions against Israel’s war on Gaza across US college campuses, and on the violent and disproportionate responses that are raising questions about the right to freedom of expression, as well as concerns for the safety of journalists covering the events.

A vendor uses his cell phone in front of a painting that says “We continue to fight” amid anti-government demonstrations, in Bogotá, Colombia, 17 June 2021. Martin Galindo/Long Visual Press/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Special Issue: Laura Vidal looks into internet shutdowns and the complexities of this practice in the region. Based on IFEX member reports and news from the region.
In the region, shutdowns are not black and white. Tactics to interfere with internet access are often ...

I was the research consultant of the project and partly author of the booklet.

Padlet con referencias para aprender más sobre apagones de internet en América Latina. Elaborado durante los esfuerzos de promoción y enganche de los cursos de Advocacy Assembly - Shutdown Academy

Gender fluidity, the oppressiveness of social norms, and the dignity of the LGBT community are at the centre of Daniel Arzola’s art and visual campaigns, most notably the project No soy tu chiste (‘I’m not a joke’), which Arzola created as a form of resistance to the everyday violence of living under heteronormativity.

Digital surveillance continues to spread in the region, limiting the right to privacy and curtailing basic freedoms in civic space, while threatening the security of journalists and human rights defenders.

“Bienvenidos a "Así contamos nuestras historias", un proyecto en audio desarrollado por IRIS con el apoyo de la Open Society Foundations. Este es un espacio experimental, creativo y de exploración que forma parte de un conjunto de instrumentos que estamos usando para comunicar los resultados de una investigación sobre el campo de storytelling y narrativas en América Latina y el Caribe.”

Special Issue: Laura Vidal brings an access to information focus to her latest regional brief, based on IFEX member reports and news from the region.
In vast stretches beyond cities, the resonance of the radio fills a void. It offers access to information, to education, and to connection. In many parts of the world, and certainly in the Americas, radio has become more than a medium – it is a lifeline.

If measuring impact and evaluating success is already complex in any project, in the world of narrative change, there’s an extra layer. The idea of measuring what changes because of the work of a specific organization or group is as fascinating as it is difficult.

For the Mozilla Festival 2023 I developed a language inclusion guideline to help facilitators take different speakers into account, and think creatively beyond translation to make their ideas go beyond English, and their original languages.