Graph from NetBlocks showing network connectivity in Iran from 24 February 2026 to 21 April 2026. The y-axis represents normalized connectivity, ranging from 0% to 100%, and the x-axis represents the dates. The green line representing Iran's connectivity is high through the initial time period, with a sharp drop on the morning of 28 February. The continued drop in connectivity aligns with a nation-scale internet blackout imposed by authorities after joint military strikes by the US and Israel. A brief restoration was observed on 18 March. The minimum and current connectivity levels are indicated as 1% and 1%, respectively. The chart has a dark background with a red horizontal arrow labeled 'SHUTDOWN' indicating the disruption period, and the NetBlocks logo in the lower left corner with the Mapping Internet Freedom slogan.

📵 The #Iran internet blackout is now in its 53rd day after 1248 hours of disconnection from global networks. As authorities work to develop tiered access for select users and businesses, the human impacts and economic harms of this digital censorship measure continue to spiral.

In Russmedia Ruling, the GDPR Displaces Europe's Rules for Online Speech The ruling shows the serious problems that can arise when European courts rely solely on the GDPR, writes Daphne Keller.

In December, a European court handed down a ruling that could have major unintended consequences on online speech, writes Daphne Keller, director of platform regulation at Stanford Law School's Program in Law, Science & Technology.

The new Council of Europe Online Safety Recommendation wants you bloggers and regular public online posters (who are ‘outside formal editorial oversight’) to be subject to self-regulatory codes, encouraged by Member States. I am so reminded of this. www.cyberleagle.com/2018/10/a-lo...

The result is huge. Vast in its consequences. Orban was the inspiration to all those who came after him. He served as Putin's puppet, undermining Europe from within and Ukraine from without. He funded a vast network of fascists around the world. It's all vulnerable now, or falling apart entirely.

Of course no one from *checks notes* Sudan or Afghanistan could be in genuine danger.

Government apology to barrister raided in CIA torture case Rachel Toney is security-cleared to represent Abu Faraj al-Libi's interests at secret hearings.

#SpecialAdvocates #CMPs
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Wikipedia Bans AI-Generated Content “In recent months, more and more administrative reports centered on LLM-related issues, and editors were being overwhelmed.”

New: Wikipedia has officially banned AI-generated content. After months of heated debate and previous attempts to restrict the use of LLMs, volunteer editors accepted a new policy that prohibits using them to create articles for the online encyclopedia

www.404media.co/wikipedia-ba...

Contributor: The U.S. desperately needs functional counterterrorism America’s defenses are divided, disorganized and under-resourced at a high-risk moment during the war against Iran.

The United States has suffered four terrorist attacks since the war in #Iran broke out. Yet our counterterrorism infrastructure continues to atrophy.

My thoughts on the challenges ahead, with @colinpclarke.bsky.social in the @latimes.com.

Follow closely this welcome and really important new lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's policy punishing social media misinformation and hate researchers with immigration consequences.

This is billed as stopping unlawful/pro-terrorist expression, but it's really doubling down on the university Prevent duty, which is about stopping extreme expression not because it is always unlawful, but because of students being impressionable. The OfS is a lousy vehicle for making calls on this.

State of HATE 2026: It Could Happen Here WELCOME TO OUR State of HATE 2026 report – the most comprehensive and analytical guide to the far right in Britain today.This year’s report carries a stark warning. The far right is bigger, bolder, an...

🚨 OUT TODAY: State of HATE 2026

Our annual deep dive into the British far right.

The groups. The networks. The money. The rhetoric. The public mood.

🔎 Explore the report:
hopenothate.org.uk/state-of-hat...

Palestine Action ruling: Human rights organisations call for Ofcom to issue guidance on content takedowns Human rights organisations, academics and writers have written to ask Ofcom to provide immediate guidance to tech platforms following the High Court ruling that the UK Government’s proscription of…

We've called on Ofcom to clear up confusion following the ruling that the Palestine Action ban is unlawful.

We need to know what platforms are expected to do about their duty to remove 'terrorist' content under the Online Safety Act and how new duties will be applied.

Read our open letter ⬇️

Woman 'did not know' full details of Hamas attacks, court hears Jurors hear Hanin Barghouthi was concerned about human rights in her speech on 8 October, 2023.

Just days after the BDN/ABJ judgment in the UK Supreme Court and the jury trial of Hanin Barghouthi for supporting Hamas - BDN in the Supreme Court decision on whether human rights protections constrain the prosecution (which the UKSC rejected) - is underway:

share.google/ZddvG3AwYHln...

Graph from NetBlocks showing network connectivity in Iran from February 24, 2026, to March 2, 2026. The y-axis represents normalized connectivity, ranging from 0% to 100%, and the x-axis represents the dates. The green line representing Iran's connectivity normal most of the time period, with a sharp drop on the morning of February 28. The drop in connectivity aligns with nation-scale internet blackout imposed during joint military strikes by the US and Israel. The minimum and current connectivity levels are indicated as 1% and 1%, respectively. The chart has a dark background with a red horizontal arrow labeled 'SHUTDOWN', indicates the period of disruption and includes the NetBlocks logo in the lower left corner.

⚠️ Update: #Iran's internet blackout has entered its fourth day, with the national censorship measure now in place for over 72 hours.

The silencing of authentic Iranian voices is fueling a surge in misinformation as pro-regime accounts fill the void with their own narrative.

Support NetBlocks Let's make sure the world is watching

📢 Free and open internet is a fundamental right: If you're finding our reporting useful during the Iran blackout or any other time, we'd value your support. When authoritarian regimes try to silence the public, let's make sure the world is watching! ko-fi.com/netblocks

Mahmood’s change to refugee status may undermine legal obligations, Law Society says Home secretary has faced backlash for decision to make refugee status in England and Wales temporary

Not only risking violations of international law, yet again, Labour's anti-asylum policies get progressively worse, and worse than the previous government when taken in totality, with this latest PR stunt by Mahmood. 87/

www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...

If you'd like to come work for us at Good Law Project we are currently recruiting four new roles!

(Please do share.) 🧵

Weronika Galka: Secret proceedings, (mal)administration, and the courts: RA and AA v SSFCDA, MZZ v SSD and SSHD and In the Matter of the SSD [2026] EWCA Civ 3 In early January 2026, the Court of Appeal (Peter Jackson LJ, Elisabeth Laing LJ, and Jeremy Baker LJ) handed down the decision in R (RR and AA) v Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth, and …

Weronika Galka: Secret proceedings, (mal)administration, and the courts: RA and AA v SSFCDA, MZZ v SSD and SSHD and In the Matter of the SSD [2026] EWCA Civ 3 ukconstitutionallaw.org/2026/02/26/w...

Now a full-length blogpost. “Safety by design or systems for content moderation?” #OnlineSafetyAct www.cyberleagle.com/2026/02/safe...

Regulate platforms, not children – Commissioner urges caution over social media bans - Commissioner for Human Rights - www.coe.int Strasbourg 23 February 2026

"Banning children’s access to social media...shifts the responsibility for safety from the platforms that create the environment to the children who navigate it." - Council of Europe High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michael O'Flaherty

Fantastic analysis of the case by @alangreene.bsky.social

Seven Billion Reasons for Facebook to Abandon its Face Recognition Plans Meta’s analysis that it can avoid scrutiny by releasing a privacy invasive product during a time of political crisis is craven and morally bankrupt. It is also dead wrong.

www.eff.org/deeplinks/20...

Iran Turns to Digital Surveillance Tools to Track Down Protesters

major NYT story on surveillance of protesters - and pretty much anyone seeking access to information - by the Iranian government (the reporting combines tech, china, surveillance & iran expertise)

Commission preliminarily finds TikTok\'s addictive design in breach of the Digital Services Act Today, the European Commission preliminarily found TikTok in breach of the Digital Services Act for its addictive design.

EU tech law

EU Commission preliminary finding that TikTok has breached Digital Services Act re 'addictive design' ec.europa.eu/commission/p...

AI governance should be shaped not just by power, but by participation!

Read this blog by our ED Jason Pielemeier: Stitching AI Governance Together: Measure Twice, Cut Once, reflecting on why participation matters and how we can better weave diverse perspectives into AI governance ⚖️

FBI Investigates Minneapolis Protestor Signal Chats & EU Subjects WhatsApp to DSA Requirements | The Free Flow 1/29/26 U.S. Border Patrol fatally shoots an ICU nurse recording an ICE raid in Minneapolis, EU determines WhatsApp is subject to DSA requirements, radio operators in Belarus face the death penalty, and more.

Free speech depends on spaces where people can speak without fear of the government looking over their shoulder.

🔗 Find out what’s happening to these spaces in this week’s Free Flow newsletter:
www.bedrockprinciple.com/p/fbi-invest...

Iran plans permanent break from global internet, say activists Report claims unrestricted online access will be a ‘government privilege’, limited to individuals vetted by regime

www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

How Digital Sovereignty Will Lead to The Slow and Fast Erosion of The Internet Sovereignty is not a synonym for autonomy; it is instead the uncompromising authority to impose a single will upon others.

Iran's recent near-total Internet blackout should give us all pause about what digital sovereignty can mean in practice.

Digital rights expert Farzaneh Badiei explores these tensions in a new guest post at The Bedrock Principle: www.bedrockprinciple.com/p/how-digita...

"Internet connection is a human right, and it should not be left in the hands of irresponsible governments or private actors.: