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Deji Olukotun

Senior Global Advocacy Manager

As a member of the advocacy team, Deji Bryce Olukotun (email: [email protected]) manages Access Now’s global campaigns on fighting internet shutdowns, the open internet, cybersecurity, and ensuring that our fundamental rights are respected online. He came from the literary and human rights organization PEN American Center, where he founded PEN’s digital freedom program and managed its capacity-building work in Myanmar, South Africa, Haiti, and Nigeria. He holds a J.D. from Stanford Law School, a BA from Yale University, and dual masters degrees in Creative Writing and Justice & Transformation from the University of Cape Town, where he was a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar. He has also worked as corporate counsel for a small technology startup. An avid writer, Deji is the author of the novel Nigerians in Space (Unnamed Press) and After the Flare (forthcoming, 2017). His work has been featured in The Atlantic, NPR, The New York Times, and Vice.

Shutting down a transparency tool in 29 countries? Twitter can do better.

28 Aug 2015

Last week, Twitter shut down a tool that helps people hold politicians accountable in 29 countries around the world. The Netherlands-based civil society group Open State Foundation created Politwoops, which scans the Twitter accounts of politicians for tweets they’ve deleted. Deleted tweets can provide insight to the viewpoints of public officials, and journalists have been using Politwoops to keep representatives accountable for what they say publicly. This is an especially disappointing decision because Twitter has been a champion of transparency and free expression for some time.

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Shutting down a transparency tool in 29 countries? Twitter can do better.
28 Aug 2015
Shutting down a transparency tool in 29 countries? Twitter can do better.
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Read our new report on the troubling rise of tracking headers worldwide

17 Aug 2015

Today, Access released our new report “The Rise of Mobile Tracking Headers: How Telcos Around the World Are Threatening Your Privacy,” our in-depth investigation into the global use of so-called “supercookies” or “permacookies” to track your web browsing. The results were based on almost 200,000 tests taken on Amibeingtracked.com — a site developed by Access to allow people to test their devices to see if they were being tracked. We offer findings, collated over six months, about the use of tracking headers worldwide, and provide recommendations for governments, carriers, websites, intergovernmental bodies, and researchers.

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Read our new report on the troubling rise of tracking headers worldwide
17 Aug 2015
Read our new report on the troubling rise of tracking headers worldwide
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How’s your country on Net Neutrality?

11 Aug 2015

The Global Net Neutrality Coalition now has 70 member organizations from five continents. Today the coalition launched a revamped website at thisisnetneutrality.org featuring an interactive map that shows the status of Net Neutrality around the globe; a model policy framework developed by the Dynamic Coalition on Network Neutrality for crafting legislation and regulations; and other resources for global advocates fighting for a free and open internet.

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How’s your country on Net Neutrality?
11 Aug 2015
How’s your country on Net Neutrality?
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Encryption debate crackles as Crypto Summit draws to a close

15 Jul 2015

Access’ Crypto Summit finished after a long day of spirited debate about one of the most pressing concerns confronting technology today — encryption and the future of the internet. Here are a few closing highlights.

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Encryption debate crackles as Crypto Summit draws to a close
15 Jul 2015
Encryption debate crackles as Crypto Summit draws to a close
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Five Tweets that show the scope of Hacking Team’s impact on human rights

9 Jul 2015

This week we learned even more about the way these firms operate when a hacker copied and leaked some 400 gigabytes of data from Hacking Team, the Italy-based surveillance tech firm. Here are five Tweets that reveal the scope of the company’s impact on human rights.

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Five Tweets that show the scope of Hacking Team’s impact on human rights
9 Jul 2015
Five Tweets that show the scope of Hacking Team’s impact on human rights
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Access joins letter to UK officials criticizing GCHQ for spying on human rights groups

1 Jul 2015

This week, Access joined a coalition letter to the Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom sharply criticizing the government for spying on international human rights groups. The letter responded to revelations in a ruling by the Investigatory Powers Tribunal, which disclosed that Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) had spied on organizations in South Africa and Egypt. The UK is a member of the so-called Five Eyes coalition of governments — including the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand — that collaborates on intelligence gathering.

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Access joins letter to UK officials criticizing GCHQ for spying on human rights groups
1 Jul 2015
Access joins letter to UK officials criticizing GCHQ for spying on human rights groups
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New UN report on encryption a triumph for free expression online

29 May 2015

Access hails the new report by UN human rights expert David Kaye that defends the use of encryption as necessary for free expression, and that affirms digital security as essential for the broader advancement of human rights.

Press Release
New UN report on encryption a triumph for free expression online
29 May 2015
New UN report on encryption a triumph for free expression online
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Rights coalition to island nation of Nauru: the world is watching

26 May 2015

The island nation of Nauru may be tiny — it’s only 21 square kilometers (8.5 square miles) — but what is happening there matters to people around the world. Today, Access and a coalition of international organizations sent a letter calling for the government to stop blocking internet services and to repeal a dangerous new criminal law that restricts free expression.

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Rights coalition to island nation of Nauru: the world is watching
26 May 2015
Rights coalition to island nation of Nauru: the world is watching
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International community presses island nation of Nauru on free expression, internet blocking

26 May 2015

Human rights concerns raised by restrictive new criminal law and treatment of asylum seekers

Press Release
International community presses island nation of Nauru on free expression, internet blocking
26 May 2015
International community presses island nation of Nauru on free expression, internet blocking
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Why is a tiny island nation facing an internet shutdown?

14 May 2015

Internet censorship in Nauru could lead to other human rights abuses.

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Why is a tiny island nation facing an internet shutdown?
14 May 2015
Why is a tiny island nation facing an internet shutdown?