"The Freedom Online Coalition Joint Statement on Defending Civic Space Online"  01 May 2019

The Freedom Online Coalition (FOC) is deeply concerned about shrinking civic and democratic spaces online as a result of State-sponsored obstruction of free expression... Many governments have introduced and adopted laws, regulations, and policies that unduly restrict civic space directly and indirectly. Such measures have led to Internet shutdowns, account deactivation, undue restrictions on software and applications, and censorship through filtering and blocking. 

... The FOC is concerned that some governments, disregarding the rule of law, have misused laws related to counter-terrorism, anti-corruption, anti-money laundering, national security, cybercrime and cybersecurity to target and silence civil society actors and human rights defenders...Any government restrictions on encryption and anonymity must be consistent with a State’s international legal obligations... The FOC calls on all governments to promote vibrant and resilient civic space... [and] encourages governments to protect and promote civic space through laws and policies that expand access to emerging technologies such as blogs, private messaging apps, and over-thetop-services rather than restricting their use through overreaching regulation and the imposition of high compliance burdens that inhibit access.