Zara Rahman’s Post

Some very cool job/fellowship/funding opportunities in the tech/social justice space: Ford Foundation hiring a new Tech + Society Program Officer. Big shoes to fill with Michael Brennan's term ending, but a fantastic team to support - NYC based. https://lnkd.in/e9ecj6Ks European AI & Society Fund has a new fellowship programme on Artificial Intelligence and market power – up to $70,000 available, deadline July 8, and don't let the name fool you, it's open to people based anywhere. https://lnkd.in/e3WdNrCb Civitates – Tech and Democracy launches an open call for organisations working in France and Ireland on the national enforcement of the Digital Services Act (DSA) and other related EU tech regulations - deadline 9 September https://lnkd.in/e6WrCkKs #jobs #jobfairy #techandsociety

Brits abroad (!) – don't forget to a. register to vote overseas if you haven't already, and b. apply for a postal vote. Deadline 5pm on 19 June, details in Catherine's post below!

Happy to be listening into the Palestinian Digital Activism Forum, held today + tomorrow: registration is still open, and there's such an excellent line up of Palestinian + international speakers. https://pdaf.net/

I'm so glad Weaving Liberation exists – and excited for the launch next week, and to see and learn more from all that they do!

Yesterday, I spoke at #rp24. The title of my talk was "We're More Than What They Say We Are: Solidarity for Data Justice" and originally, I planned to talk mainly about the topics I cover in my book. The last few weeks, days and months changed that, though. I'm not able to stand and talk to anyone, let alone on a stage in front of lots of people, without mentioning what's going on in Palestine. It hurts my heart that regular life is just...happening, while such horrors are happening there. So, I wrote a new talk which feels much more true to where my heart and mind is right now, and reflects far better what I care about. I've just sent out a newsletter issue where I summarise some of my main points: https://lnkd.in/egDBFT4E And the shortest version is this: Digital rights violations are harms caused by structural violence. It’s never "just" that data rights or digital rights are being violated. All that most digital systems do is reinforce, or often even strengthen, the status quo. That means that the only way to meaningfully address those harms, is by working to dismantle those systems, and build new ones. ** update, the video of the talk is already online: https://lnkd.in/eB4FQ6-D

Woohoo, it's that #rp24 time of year again! Some great session tips below which are on my list – personally I'm also very excited to see Jenny Odell's talk later today, "On practices of care and repair." And speaking of care, I'm especially happy to see there's a child-friendly area at the conference this year, as well as the opportunity for a free ticket for whoever might be providing childcare support 🙏🏽

What an incredible list of projects working at the intersection of climate justice and digital rights, aka the awardees of the latest round of the Green Screen Catalyst Fund. I'm thrilled to see some familiar names whose fantastic work deserves support (working at the intersections of different movements is incredibly hard to get funding for!) – and I'm also so happy to learn about some new-to-me names and projects which sound so important and needed. Full disclosure, I applied to this fund myself (for an idea I had about exploring a reparations framing in the context of digital rights) – and I can honestly say, the Community Reviewers did a great job in their decisions! https://lnkd.in/ej7ws8aR * PS. thanks to LinkedIn's weird algorithm, I can't for the life of me remember who posted this or how it appeared in my feed. Thank you, whoever you are!