Quaterly Newsletter from Body & Data
January to March 2023

Welcome to the first quarterly newsletter for 2023. We have refocused and redesigned our newsletter for this year, focusing primarily on media monitoring around digital rights in context of Nepal, updates about our work and publications and any opportunities. Please let us know if like the changes or have any feedbacks for us!

Body & Data has been conducting media monitoring on digital rights issues since January 2021. From our analysis of the digital rights scenario in Nepal from the month of January - March 2023, we observed multiple cases of privacy and data breaches - Civil Aviation Authority releasing the data and details of the deceased after the Pokhara Yeti Airlines plane crash, the sharing of bank details of the deceased's wife after the self-immolation incident, the court's order for "lawful interception" and its later repercussions on the marginalised communities and more. Additionally, the Nepal government's plan to digitise and digitalise Nepal while ignoring its internal lack of digital security in its domain was seen when a cyber attack on the government's server led to the shutdown of nearly 400 government-led portals for 5 hours. Similarly, cases of digital fraud and scams by sending malware links with clickbait names were also seen on the rise. Such cases at first glance may directly link to digital fraud but are actually cases of online violence against women and marginalised communities since they question the sexuality, agency and privacy of women under the disguise of clickbait links.

You can read about the top three news for this quarter here:

1. दुर्घटनामा बितेका मृतकको परिवारको प्रश्न: वियोग र व्यक्तिगत जानकारी सार्वजनिक नगर्दा हुँदैन?
2. पुँजीवादको नवीनतम संस्करण : निगरानी पुँजीवाद
3. जथाभावी सिम वितरणले अनाहकमा हैरानी : गम्भीर अपराधमा जोडिंदै असम्बन्धित व्यक्ति

On the occasion of #DataPrivacyWeek, we celebrated and marked the dates by sharing our Feminist Principles of the Internet that we localized and translated into Nepali. We celebrated #SaferInternetDay2023 with an office workshop assessing our own internet and tech practices, needs, digital presence, and conversations about our lives online, and by releasing a statement on the occasion of the day.

In March, we organized an event "Gender, Society and Tech: An Analysis from Gender Perspective" moderated by our Kabita Bahing, with speakers Diskhya Khadgi, Rita Baramu and Sarita Lamichhane on the panel. The discussion happened around the intersection of the feminist internet with a primary focus on accessibility, data privacy, an intersectional approach to looking at data, caste and gender discrimination. The discussion ended with notes from special speakers Rukshana Kapali and Aabha Chettri who highlighted the importance of digital movement and advocacy for queer rights movement and sex workers' rights.

Read about Safal's experience and advocacy efforts through the internet with the intersection of gender, sexuality and disability.

Read Alisha's opinion piece on Musk’s Twitter buyout through the lens of freedom of speech, highlighting content moderation and its effects on marginalized communities.

Established in 2017, Body & Data works to enhance understanding and access to information on digital rights among women, queer people and minority groups where they are able to exercise their rights in a safe and just digital space. We work towards the vision of accessible, safe and just digital space for all, through cross movement building, facilitation for access to information, knowledge building and dissemination on digital rights in the context of Nepal