Laura Vidal

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.

This commissioned research report is a continuation of the Media Literacy Case for Educators project, which was introduced in April 2023 in the article: Media Literacy Case for Educators: Empowering Educators to Lead Media Literacy Initiatives in Europe and referenced in: An Assessment of the Needs of Educators and Youth in Europe for a Digital and Media Literacy Education Intervention.

When we look at the state of defending human rights today, it is clear that digital technologies play a role – both as a creator of risk and harm and, potentially, as a tool to protect rights and strengthen the work of rights defenders. However, this was not always as clear, and even today, it can be difficult to understand how digital technologies magnify existing harms, introduce new dynamics, and can be used by advocates.
Learning from what others have tried – what has worked and what hasn...

Third spaces and cross-cultural identities online.

My session at Re:publica 2023.

Digital self-protection and access to information in repressive environments: experiences from Venezuela

How are Venezuelans accessing information and keeping themselves safe online in a deeply censored landscape? From journalists hopping on buses to digital security workshops on YouTube, we explore how people are learning to protect themselves online and reliable information flowing in spite of a complex system aimed to keep them in the dark.

Venezuela has experienced two decades of power struggles, with the same political party in control since 1999. Hugo Chávez, who served as president from 1999 until his death in 2013, was succeeded by his close ally, Nicolás Maduro, and started a political era of chavismo that still holds its grip today. Venezuela was very visible in international headlines in moments of deep political crisis and violent crackdown of protests, especially in 2014 and 2017.

A special feature on new legislation aiming to defend women's safety in the digital space in Colombia plus the latest free expression news from the region, produced by IFEX's Regional Editor Laura Vidal.

We are shining a spotlight on a dangerous increase in attempts to censor cultural voices and artistic expression in the region. In Brazil, an electoral judge attempted to censor artists who were critical of President Bolsonaro onstage; and in the United States, new legislation aims to influence classrooms and pull books from public library shelves. Meanwhile, in Cuba, the government is using the trials of protesters to punish artists they have been targeting for years; and a report from PEN International and UNESCO highlights inequalities in the literary world.

This is the story of a Festival that jumped at the opportunity of opening the door to many more languages.