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Carolyn Tackett

Campaigns & Rapid Response Director

As the Campaigns & Rapid Response Director at Access Now, Carolyn is a member of the joint senior leadership team for Access Now’s Advocacy arm, which brings together a wide range of policy, communications, legal, and campaign strategies to advance human rights in the digital age. As leader of the Campaigns & Rapid Response team, Carolyn provides strategic leadership on high-priority campaigns across the full spectrum of Access Now’s work, manages a growing cohort of advocates leading global and cross-sectional campaigns and coalitions, and mobilizes organizational resources to facilitate effective rapid response in moments of crisis. She has a strong background in public international law, including work with the U.N. Committee against Torture Project, the Public International Law & Policy Group, and American University International Law Review. Carolyn received her J.D. from American University Washington College of Law, Masters in International Peace and Conflict Resolution from American University School of International Service, and B.A. from Princeton University, where she focused on international relations and Chinese foreign policy.

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Stop Trump’s pro-censorship FCC nominee

12 Nov 2020

Action Alert: Trump is trying to appoint one of the worst, most dangerous FCC commissioners the United States has ever seen to gut protections for free speech online, and Mitch McConnell is speeding the Senate toward his confirmation. 

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Stop Trump’s pro-censorship FCC nominee
12 Nov 2020
Stop Trump’s pro-censorship FCC nominee
#KeepItOn-internet-shutdowns-background

Tanzania government censoring mobile networks ahead of presidential election

24 Oct 2020

Ahead of a presidential election on October 28, the Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority (TCRA) has ordered telcos to suspend access to bulk SMS and voice services, and reports indicate single messages with election-related keywords are also being censored.

Press Release
Tanzania government censoring mobile networks ahead of presidential election
24 Oct 2020
Tanzania government censoring mobile networks ahead of presidential election
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How internet shutdowns are threatening 2020 elections, and what you can do about it

15 Oct 2020

Elections are increasingly becoming a trigger point for internet shutdowns, and governments have already flipped the kill switch during elections in 2020. The #KeepItOn coalition is mobilizing to keep people connected as they go to the polls in the coming weeks.

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How internet shutdowns are threatening 2020 elections, and what you can do about it
15 Oct 2020
How internet shutdowns are threatening 2020 elections, and what you can do about it
Kazakhstan internet

As conflict escalates, Azerbaijan’s internet shutdown puts lives further at risk

15 Oct 2020

The Azerbaijani government, along with internet and telecom service providers and other essential services, must immediately restore unrestricted access to the internet across all networks, including lifting any restrictions on the use of VPNs.

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As conflict escalates, Azerbaijan’s internet shutdown puts lives further at risk
15 Oct 2020
As conflict escalates, Azerbaijan’s internet shutdown puts lives further at risk
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Sandvine, Francisco Partners facing mounting pressure for accountability around censorship tools

23 Sep 2020

Access Now, CPJ, EFF, and digital security experts Ron Deibert and Christopher Parsons are calling on California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to look into the activities of Sandvine and its owners Francisco Partners for potential legal violations arising out of their contracts with Belarus.

Press Release
Sandvine, Francisco Partners facing mounting pressure for accountability around censorship tools
23 Sep 2020
Sandvine, Francisco Partners facing mounting pressure for accountability around censorship tools
Focused View

Trump executive orders targeting China-linked apps fail to protect privacy, harm human rights

18 Sep 2020

Unilateral decrees by the Trump Administration banning transactions between U.S. persons and businesses and the firms running WeChat and TikTok would deprive millions of people of information and communication tools during a global pandemic, restrict human rights groups from reaching at-risk communities, and suppress free expression just before the U.S. election.

Press Release
Trump executive orders targeting China-linked apps fail to protect privacy, harm human rights
18 Sep 2020
Trump executive orders targeting China-linked apps fail to protect privacy, harm human rights
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Censorship tech company Sandvine’s human rights “commitments” are too little too late

16 Sep 2020

Sandvine withdrawing its product support in Belarus after abuses have already occurred is a necessary but deeply insufficient gesture from a company whose investors have a long track record of failing to protect human rights.

Press Release
Censorship tech company Sandvine’s human rights “commitments” are too little too late
16 Sep 2020
Censorship tech company Sandvine’s human rights “commitments” are too little too late

These women were jailed for TikTok 🚫 You can help them

16 Sep 2020

At least three women have already been sentenced to jail for their TikTok videos, and now they are fighting their charges on appeal. Help pressure Egyptian authorities to free these women and revoke their sentences.

Campaign
These women were jailed for TikTok 🚫 You can help them
16 Sep 2020
These women were jailed for TikTok 🚫 You can help them

Tell U.S. FCC: Don’t help Trump spread disinformation

31 Aug 2020

Disinformation has no place in a democracy. Tell the FCC to reject President Trump’s effort to bully his fact-checkers and fundamentally change Section 230 — the legal backbone of the internet.

Campaign
Tell U.S. FCC: Don’t help Trump spread disinformation
31 Aug 2020
Tell U.S. FCC: Don’t help Trump spread disinformation

Myanmar: dismiss all charges against activists for challenging year-long internet shutdown

20 Aug 2020

Access Now denounces the persecution of Maung Saungkha, a prominent Myanmar poet and activist, by authorities in Myanmar and demands an end to his continued harassment. Maung Saungkha is being accused of organizing “unlawful” protests to demand an end to the internet shutdown in Rakhine and Chin states.

Press Release
Myanmar: dismiss all charges against activists for challenging year-long internet shutdown
20 Aug 2020
Myanmar: dismiss all charges against activists for challenging year-long internet shutdown