Ms. Chriv Sokuntepy, a Sisters of Code project coordinator, was selected to join Digital Rights Asia-Pacific 2023 in Chiang Mai from May 21, 2023, to May 25, 2023. This event offers her an opportunity to learn about different topics, such as AI tools, building knowledge on digital rights, digital privacy toolkits, and so on.
Sisters of Code has working hard to provide not only coding skills for girls but also an understanding of how to protect themselves online. Thanks to these interactive sessions, Sisters of Code gain more ideas on how to guide girls to make use of technology to safeguard themselves and improve their understanding of cybersecurity and data privacy. Read below about what she learned from this event and her impressions of Digital Rights Asia-Pacific 2023 in Chiang Mai:
Day 1:
"On the first day of this event, I participated in the penal discussion on "Building Knowledge on Digital Rights" where speakers share about challenges and paths forward for the region when it comes to building knowledge on digital rights in the Asia-Pacific. One of the interesting pieces of knowledge I gained from speakers is that we have a right to share but we should be aware of what we share on social media otherwise we will spread negative impacts or false news to ourselves and others. Moreover, I also joined the "Making Your Data Accessible: You Don’t Need a Developer to Publish Your Data" Workshop. This workshop provides me with an understanding of how to manage, clean, organize, and publish data in an accessible way with ZERO lines of code by using Airtable. This is useful for empowering activists and civil society groups in making data accessible, understandable, and actionable for their stakeholders.
Day 2:
"On the second day, I also have an opportunity to join the "It’s magic? Making Sense of Algorithms and AI" Workshop. This is an interactive workshop where participants share and learn from others' perspectives on how we as users can think about and relate to social media algorithms and AI applications. This discussion tried to change perceptions of people to not regard AI as a threat to humans but as a tool that we can use to help in our studies, work, and everyday life."
Day 3:
"On the third day, I participated in the "Your Digital Privacy Toolkits" Workshop to learn about how to maintain digital identity and data safety. In this workshop, I have learned about what is encryption, cookies, password manager, and two-factor authentication. I also learn about different tools that can be used to maintain digital identity, including KeePass, Bitwarden, Temp Mail, and NordVPN as well as tools to safeguard our data, such as ExifCleaner, Bitlocker, VeraCrypt, FileVault 2, and so on."
Day 4:
"On the fourth day, I took part in a workshop covering a new and interesting topic which is "Digital Rights and Trade Agreements: Why should you care about FTAs?". As we all know that the last decade has seen increased attempts by governments around the world to regulate the digital ecosystem, to prevent harm to consumers. However, the ability of governments to implement governance frameworks that protect and promote consumer and public interest is being silently eroded through binding rules imposed through trade agreements. I learned about how free trade agreements affect digital rights and consumer interests. Digital trade is not just about buying and selling goods and services online, it is also the transmission of information and data across borders."
Day 5:
"On the last day, I joined a panel discussion on the topic of "Exploring bridges between the digital rights movement in Asia- Pacific and community networks" to learn from speakers about meaningful connectivity that unlocks the full potential of internet access. Currently, there is an urgent need to not only bridge the digital divide, but also bridge the other social divides of gender, societal class and caste. In Asia-Pacific, internet penetration through traditional channels of state and private Internet Service Providers (ISPs) remains low due to the lack of digital infrastructure. Hence, access is still a distant dream. In this backdrop, there have been innovative ways by which connectivity is created based on communities addressing their own communication needs. These “community” networks create common spaces for digital rights whether offline or online and juxtaposes it alongside justice, equality and inclusion.
Last but not least, I also have an opportunity to build connection with people from diverse background who are working to promote digital rights and inclusivity through DRAPAC23 Closing Ceremony.
Participating in Digital Rights Asia-Pacific 2023 was a life changing opportunity where we can build a broader understanding on the digital rights. All in all, we can learn that:
- Be aware of what we share on social media
- AI is not a threat but a tool to help human in every day life
- Learn to protect ourselves online by knowing about encryption, cookies, password manager, and two-factor authentication as well as tools to safeguard our digital identity and data
- Digital trade is not just about buying and selling goods and services online but also about the transmission of information and data across borders
- The “community” networks create common spaces for digital rights.