Spain’s Prime Minister on Tuesday announced plans to prohibit minors from accessing social media, as part of regulatory measures to address online safety concerns. The announcement came at the World Governments Summit hosted in Dubai. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez opened the forum by stating that social media and digital platforms have become an environment where [...]

French prosecutors conducted search operations at the offices of social media platform X (formerly Twitter) in Paris on Tuesday, investigating suspected algorithmic abuse and a wide range of other cyber offenses allegedly committed by the platform and its executives. The Prosecutor’s Office of Paris stated that these operations were part of a broader investigation into [...]

The Law Society of British Columbia warned Monday that the provincial government’s intention to amend the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA) may erode judicial independence and improperly constrain the power of the courts. The proposed amendment would limit the role of the judiciary in matters related to DRIPA’s implementation. In the [...]

The BC Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) on Monday called for an independent investigation into the alleged use of excessive force by Canadian police against a Black defense lawyer. The Canadian Civil Liberties Association and the Canadian Bar Association issued a similar appeal last Thursday. On January 23, Sudine Riley, a lawyer who is a Black woman, [...]

Doctors without Borders (MSF) on Monday denounced the blocking of humanitarian access to opposition-held areas by the government of South Sudan, warning of harm afflicting vulnerable populations, including children, pregnant women and patients with chronic or critical conditions. In a statement, the group warned that at least 23 patients are currently in critical condition and [...]

Eswatini’s education minister has publicly opposed protections for LGBTQ+ students in schools, drawing condemnation from Amnesty International, which says the remarks conflict with the country’s constitutional and international human rights obligations. Minister Owen Nxumalo publicly rejected calls to recognize or protect LGBTQ+ students in schools, asserting that such recognition would conflict with Eswatini’s cultural values. [...]

The Supreme People’s Court of the People’s Republic of China announced a group execution Thursday that brought a landmark cross-border crime case to a close. The 11 ringleaders from the northern Myanmar Ming family criminal syndicate and its affiliated fraud groups have been executed. The 11 people executed had committed grave crimes against Chinese citizens, [...]

Amnesty International on Friday urged Kyrgyzstani authorities to end the imprisonment of journalist Makhabat Tazhibek-kyzy and quash all charges against her. Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia director, said that authorities face “a clear and unavoidable choice: uphold their international human rights obligations or continue to defy them.” She added: The UN [...]

The UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria welcomed the ceasefire agreement between the Government of Syria and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Friday, while urging the return of displaced populations and access to aid in Northeastern Syria. Paulo Pinheiro, the chair of the Commission of Inquiry, stated: “We welcome efforts to bring stability to [...]

A UN expert urged states to recognize hostage-taking as a crime against humanity on Thursday. The statement comes as a preparatory committee is drafting a treaty on crimes against humanity. The Special Rapporteur on torture, Alice Jill Edwards, called on states participating in the negotiations to include hostage-taking as a crime against humanity in the [...]