Change Makers In contrast, the situation in the United States appears quite different. There's some sense of the rule of law that you can hold your representatives accountable or you can talk to them, but you don't necessarily trust the companies. So that's why with trust and safety in particular, I think it just depends on the relationships that users have with states and with companies. This dichotomy really underscores whytrust and safety work has to be context-specific. It has to be tailored. It can't just be a one-size-fits-all. It really has to be around what is needed here to protect against loss of life and property, protect against polarization, and protect children from being abused and from all sorts of different harms, while also making sure that we do that in a rights-respecting manner. Openness and transparency are very important pillars of information sharing and collaboration. I think being in contact and communicating with one another is important. Oftentimes, you have big organizations that cover big regions, that work with local groups on the ground. But I think it would be really useful to have those local groups talk to one another and have different types of meetings or gatherings, where they share their experiences and can learn from them in confidence and in security. This is hard to do. For example, RightsCon happened in Tunis in 2019. I don't think it can happen in Tunisia now. We have to be asking questions about where we host these events, and what are the physical security and safety questions that we have to keep in mind. Also, how do we prioritize the mental health and well-being of advocates who work in the space? I think a lot of advocates have faced significant trauma around the work that they do in many countries. We need to take care of one another more and also prepare the next generation. Ultimately, I see Internet advocacy as receding and in some cases, maybe it's advancing. But in most places around the world, I think advocacy is receding for a variety of reasons mentioned earlier. TikTok is a potential opening and maybe we can modernize the way we do campaigns and try to use such channels in a smarter way. A CIPESA Series How can we ensure that marginalized communities, such as women, youth, people with disabilities, and marginalised groups, are included in efforts to promote Internet freedom in Africa? We need to be able to engage organisations that are working directly on the issues and with marginalised communities. They are the experts on their populations and their challenges. Specifically, I think we shouldn't presume to know and understand what they go through. Coalition building with traditional groups, including those representing people with disabilities, youth and other marginalised groups is essential. We should go to them and talk to them and actively include them in the things that we do. If we lack connections with groups working on freedom of expression and disability rights, then it means there's some work that needs to be done proactive outreach. It means that we need to go to that group and meet with them separately, have many conversations, and then involve them in different roundtables and conversations about legislation and having their voice be really heard. In some cases, organisations that represent other groups that are not focused on digital rights often have stronger and more solid standing in the society in which they operate than digital rights groups do. So, there's something to be learned there. For example, there are many organizations in Africa that are very strong that work on disability that have existed for a long time and we really have to reach out to them and talk to them and build coalitions with them and learn from them. 47