Global Voices

Support our next #GVSpotlight! With these stories, we aim to pull back the camouflage that Big Tech uses to obscure their connection with oppressive governments, and to highlight cases of technological authoritarianism — and resistance — around the world.

Oil and gas contribute significantly to Cameroon's budget. However, these oil rigs threaten biodiversity and compromise the well-being of coastal and Indigenous communities.

Bringing context to the chaos. Support journalism that explains the world from the inside out. Support our #GVSpotlight thematic coverage with a donation today! globalvoices.org/2026/09/25...

"We are trying to connect people who live ten or 15 kilometres from each other. They have different memories, different histories, but they can still meet and work together.”

This hits home even for this Indian-Kenyan-Brit (or is that Kenyan-Indian-Brit?!)... the question of home, identity and belonging is fluid, evolving, and continuously challenged. It is unsettling.

Like their peers, children and young people with Down syndrome are curious about technology and the internet, but there are often no suitable, dedicated tools to help them learn how to safely navigate the web.

In the latest GV podcast, we discussed why Russia restricts access to many social media services, while Belarus does not impose comparable restrictions; censorship, surveillance, and digital authoritarianism — Belarusian style.

An ethnographic look at Venezuela's María Lionza cult, examining how LGBTQ+ mediums challenge traditional gender roles and face discrimination while channeling diverse spiritual entities.

“Monhé” is not a nationality: a person of Indian origin can be completely Mozambican, foreign, or in some cases, stateless. Being Mozambican is a matter of belonging — regardless of one’s origin, appearance, or surname.

Young people are deemed mature enough to elect their leaders, yet not to replace them. They drive political movements forward by voting, advocating, campaigning, and protesting, yet cannot run for office themselves.

Keep the GV newsroom open! We only need $60,000 to meet our newsroom budget for 2026. We need to protect independent media now, because it’s a lot harder to rebuild networks of experienced staff than it is to keep them on. globalvoices.org/donate/

“Under normal conditions, this is already serious enough, because the platform rules over the information flow in a society, but when you apply it to an electoral dispute, it's even more serious.”

This spotlight is, then, a form of protest in its own right: a way of reasserting that protest is legitimate, important for democracy, and everywhere.

“Monhé” is not a nationality: a person of Indian origin can be completely Mozambican, foreign, or in some cases, stateless.

“While the network will continue to provide service to users, the transparency practices and internal procedures and protocols for data safeguards may change after a sale.”

Venezuela’s worsening electricity crisis is disrupting daily life, pushing frustrated residents into the streets as prolonged blackouts expose the fragility of the country’s power grid.

In the latest GV podcast, we discussed why Russia restricts access to many social media services, while Belarus does not impose comparable restrictions; censorship, surveillance, and digital authoritarianism — Belarusian style.

An ethnographic look at Venezuela's María Lionza cult, examining how LGBTQ+ mediums challenge traditional gender roles and face discrimination while channeling diverse spiritual entities

Dancehall’s interactive, collaborative nature doesn’t treat a work as isolated or even something that is “finished.” Iteration is a part of the creative process that is decided by the next function or party.

Georgia’s deteriorating press freedom is part of a broader process of democratic backsliding, with the right to peaceful protest severely restricted, opposition politicians jailed, a decline in judicial independence, and more.

"Artistic activism uses the emotional experience of art as a prompt for action and directs that action towards change, turning a complex problem into a clear public message."

So many stories. So many important, fascinating, unusual, relevant stories.

Being able to use the internet safely is also about being able to participate in everyday life.

“Under normal conditions, this is already serious enough, because the platform rules over the information flow in a society, but when you apply it to an electoral dispute, it's even more serious.”

Palestine shows what happens when data, surveillance infrastructure, artificial intelligence and corporate power are integrated into systems of domination. Support our #GVSpotlight: globalvoices.org/2026/09/25...

“While the network will continue to provide service to users, the transparency practices and internal procedures and protocols for data safeguards may change after a sale.” Support our #GVSpotlight coverage with a donation: globalvoices.org/2026/09/25...

Caribbean dancehall’s interactive, collaborative nature doesn’t treat a work as isolated or even something that is “finished.” Iteration is a part of the creative process that is decided by the next function or party.

🌐 In an article for @globalvoices.org, Alli Armijo writes about how internet infrastructure policy, like control over subsea cables, is increasingly becoming a topic of discussion in military strategy and geopolitical policy decision-making. buff.ly/ljoQoEg

Georgia’s deteriorating press freedom is part of a broader process of democratic backsliding, with the right to peaceful protest severely restricted, opposition politicians jailed, a decline in judicial independence, and more.

"Artistic activism uses the emotional experience of art as a prompt for action and directs that action towards change, turning a complex problem into a clear public message."

and that's just the last 24 hours!

This is from @rankingdigitalrights.org and so important and relevant for so many places globalvoices.org/2026/10/22/w...

I already posted about this really cool re-pub from @eff.org yesterday globalvoices.org/2026/10/22/r...

This is so important toooooooooo globalvoices.org/2026/10/23/i...

like, look, just LOOK at this amazing story that just came out about activist art in North Macedonia globalvoices.org/2026/10/23/c...

need to do the @globalvoices.org newsletter and it's so hard to pick just four stories to highlight from the past week! there are so many good ones?

Bringing context to the chaos. Support journalism that explains the world from the inside out. Support our #GVSpotlight thematic coverage with a donation today! globalvoices.org/2026/09/25...

For the @globalvoices.org Protest in Democracy spotlight, I wrote about how crucial activism is in our flawed, democracy-adjacent systems: globalvoices.org/2026/10/21/p...

For more stories from around the world about how protest and democracy intersect, take a look at the @globalvoices.org spotlight: globalvoices.org/special/prot...

I did not even know this story was coming (I am somewhat involved in the newsroom but not like micromanaging it right @ameyann.bsky.social ?) and it's so fascinating and cool! globalvoices.org/2026/10/22/r...

more on data centers outside the US: - Latin America globalvoices.org/2026/04/29/t... - Asia globalvoices.org/2026/04/30/t...

Venezuela’s worsening electricity crisis is disrupting daily life, pushing frustrated residents into the streets as prolonged blackouts expose the fragility of the country’s power grid.

Access Now's 2025 report found that at least 313 shutdowns were implemented globally, and that in Africa the Internet was shut down 30 times in 15 countries. Support our "Big Tech and Authoritarianism" #GVSpotlight coverage: globalvoices.org/2026/09/25...

“Many incidents of harassment, intimidation, or discomfort in public spaces never become official complaints. Some women do not believe reporting will lead to change.”

DoD’s public document describes Alibaba as indirectly affiliated with China State Council's supervision body, and a “military-civil fusion contributor to the Chinese defense industrial base”. Support our #GVSpotlight: globalvoices.org/2026/10/08...

AI-powered disinformation campaigns have emerged at a time of conflict when trust in the news is already at an all-time low and resources are severely limited. Support our vital #GVSpotlight coverage with a donation: globalvoices.org/2026/09/25...

Palestine is a warning about what comes next. Technologies developed, tested and refined under occupation do not stay there. They become products, expertise and business models circulating globally. Support our #GVSpotlight: globalvoices.org/2026/09/25...

This spotlight is, then, a form of protest in its own right: a way of reasserting that protest is legitimate, important for democracy, and everywhere. Support our "Big Tech and Authoritarianism" #GVSpotlight coverage: globalvoices.org/2026/09/25...

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“Technologies developed, tested and refined under occupation do not stay there. They become products, expertise and business models that circulate globally.”