Laura Vidal

I SURVIVED READING BANNED BOOKS ALL I GOT WAS SMARTER AND MORE EMPATHETIC

🙂

A Liquid Convo About Venezuela w/ Laura Vidal We got into why Venezuelans flee the Maduro regime, how Venezuela(ns) is often covered, and the broader discourse battles that may or may not include people who still think Maduro is a passionate d…

I had one of those difficult conversations on Venezuela with my dear @ayoub.bsky.social in @thefirethesetimes.com. I deeply appreciated having a welcoming space for such a complicated conversation and being able to keep calling attention to what is going on.

thefirethesetimes.com/2025/06/10/a...

De la Flottille de la liberté à la Marche mondiale vers Gaza, ce sont les sociétés, et au premier chef leurs jeunesses, qui sauvent les principes bafoués par les États face au martyre du peuple de Palestine. Sur @mediapart.fr le 2 juin dernier ⤵️

Rising repression in Venezuela and El Salvador, Peru's alarming trends, and Colombia's anniversary of impunity - IFEX May 2025 in the Americas: A freedom of expression round-up by IFEX's Regional Editor Laura Vidal, based on IFEX member reports and news from the region.

#Americas 🌎 In our monthly roundup we highlight rising repression in #Venezuela and #ElSalvador, alarming authoritarian trends in Peru, and the #Colombia's anniversary of impunity with the case of Jineth Bedoya. ifex.org/rising-repre...

Open letter calls on the Government of Venezuela to immediately release human rights defender Eduardo Torres - IFEX IFEX joins other ivil society organisations in urging the authorities to allow Eduardo Torres regular communication with family members and trusted lawyers, and grant his full and immediate release.

#Venezuela 🇻🇪 IFEX joins human rights organisations and regional bodies in urgently calling for the immediate release of Eduardo Torres — a lawyer, unionist and member of PROVEA who is currently detained, isolated, and incommunicado, despite being under IACHR protection measures. buff.ly/q4ucBJ7

An independent media is vital for democracy. Access to information enables all people to make decisions and hold the powerful to account.

A world without journalism is a world without truth.

cpj.org/donate

#JournalismMatters

The genocide in Gaza is only profitable to the Israelis if other governments participate in it. That is a decision that these governments make, a decision to directly profit off the genocide of Palestinians.

They can be pressured to stop.

Fighting AI-powered disinformation through collaboration - IFEX IFEX spoke with the director of the Comprova project, Sérgio Lüdtke, to better understand how artificial intelligence is reshaping disinformation threats in Brazil – and how collaborative journalism m...

On this #WPFD2025 I’m sharing a rare moment of hope I had when working with IFEX on this profile of Comprova — a powerful reminder that getting out of this mess we’re in won’t happen if we work alone.

It takes networks. It takes trust. It takes collaboration. ifex.org/fighting-ai-...

🚨 REMINDER – Our webinar is coming up this Wednesday (yes, 𝙒𝙚𝙙𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙙𝙖𝙮 this week! 🗓️)

Sam Jeffers @worklesshard.bsky.social from Who Targets Me @whotargets.me will walk us through how political ads are tracked in real-time – and what we can learn from them.

Don’t miss out – register now! 👇

TFTT 3/Venezuela and the Right to Narrate w/ Laura Vidal | From The Periphery Media Collective Get more from From The Periphery Media Collective on Patreon

March 2020 3/ #Venezuela and the Right to Narrate w/ @elevidalbe.bsky.social

www.patreon.com/posts/35177339

“...this all might be the beginning of a process that leads to genuine “liberation days” for other countries, but not the US itself. There is pain ahead, but also a sort of independence […] there might finally be a recognition that the US’s definition of peace and prosperity was always its own...”

We're talking about defending the widest civic space we have, a place where defenders can connect, support each other and continue the fight, like many of us, from exile, connecting with many more like us cross-cultural and cross-regionally.

It’s no coincidence seeing how digital rights activists are constantly connected with other social movements.
Because the Internet isn’t just a tool—it’s a space we have to protect and reimagine.

It might look “technical,” but it’s deeply political.
And it’s collective. It defends the ground where other forms of activism take root.

Cyberactivism isn’t just about “tech stuff.”
It’s about making sure that environmental, feminist, human rights and justice movements can breathe online.
That we have a public digital space where dignity is possible.

Because almost every movement today relies on the digital realm to exist: to organize, document, protect, connect, and amplify. And that realm has rules, risks, and limits—someone has to be watching and challenging them.

There are people fighting to make sure the Internet isn’t weaponized against those who defend rights.
That we aren’t surveilled, silenced, data-mined, or attacked for speaking up. That kind of activism is vital.

Among the kinds of activism that sustain others, there’s cyberactivism. And I don’t just mean posting online.
I mean the people working to ensure that the digital world remains a civic space: fair, safe, usable, non-violent.

That supportive work often goes unseen—but it’s essential.
It’s not “less activism.” It’s human infrastructure. It’s what allows others to keep going without burning out.

Activism happens at many levels. Not everyone is on the frontlines with a megaphone. Some people research, document, translate, coordinate, hold space, teach, or simply listen and expand. Without that ecosystem, many struggles fall apart.

I was interviewed recently about #activism and, as always, in trying not to say too much, I ended up saying too little. So here’s a thread with the ideas that didn’t make it into the conversation but are still on my mind.

Across the Americas, civil society is targeted – and women continue to push back - IFEX Americas: A free expression and civic space round-up produced by IFEX's Regional Editor Laura Vidal, based on IFEX member reports and news from the region.

In our latest #FreedomOfExpression round-up from the #Americas @ifex.org 🌎 we highlight how civil society is increasingly targeted across the region, while women continue to lead resistance efforts in the face of censorship, persecution, and authoritarianism.
ifex.org/across-the-a...

Radio France et France Télévisions en grève pendant deux jours contre la réforme de l’audiovisuel public France Culture et des stations locales diffusent de la musique en lieu et place des programmes pour dénoncer le projet gouvernemental de holding commune.

Une grève de deux jours a démarré, lundi 31 mars, dans l’audiovisuel public, Radio France et France Télévisions en tête, pour protester contre le projet gouvernemental de holding commune, avant le début de son examen à l’Assemblée nationale. www.lemonde.fr/economie-fra...

Toda la gente siria que conozco estalla de alegría y alivio ante cada pequeña buena noticia que llega. Ante cada muestra de unión, cada acuerdo, cada gesto de reconciliación.

Hartos de muerte y de humillaciones. Un pueblo que quiere VIVIR.

#Siria

Georgia marks 100 days of protests Despite on-going protests, the ruling party has not budged resorting to sweeping legal changes and arrests instead.

Last week Georgia marked 100 days of protests - but the country and its people have been on the streets for much longer in the last four years. Here is an overview for
@globalvoices.org and thanks to excellent reporting by
@ocmedia.bsky.social globalvoices.org/2025/03/12/g...

Finland ends homelessness and provides shelter for all in need - scoop.me In Finland, the number of homeless people has fallen sharply. Why? The country applies the "Housing First" concept agains homelessness.

“In Finland, the number of homeless people has fallen sharply. Those affected receive a small apartment & counselling with no preconditions. 4 out of 5 people affected make their way back into a stable life. And all this is CHEAPER than accepting homelessness.”

Presentación del informe: "El Estado de la vigilancia" YouTube video by R3D: Red en Defensa de los Derechos Digitales

¡Estamos EN VIVO 🔴!

Únete a la conversación y ve la presentación de nuestro informe “El Estado de la vigilancia”, un trabajo de documentación sobre los abusos de la tecnología de vigilancia en México: www.youtube.com/live/nvIeIKC...

Hello 👋 💙 PEN Canada is on Bluesky!

We fight censorship, campaign for the freedom of imperiled and imprisoned writers and journalists, and help writers who live in exile because of their written work.

As part of an international network of writers, find more PEN centres here ⤵️

go.bsky.app/MhL7yQC

📢 ¡Ya estamos en Bluesky!

Síguenos y defiende con nosotrxs la libertad de expresión y el derecho a la información en México y Centroamérica. ✊

🇲🇽🇬🇹🇭🇳🇨🇺🇸🇻🇳🇮

Resiliencia digital para combatir la censura en Venezuela - IFEX En un contexto con medios de comunicación diezmados, además de una conectividad deficiente y poco confiable, las comunidades toman acción para complementar los esfuerzos por el flujo de la…

#Venezuela 🇻🇪 Derechos Digitales reports on digital resilience strategies amid a collapsed media landscape and unreliable internet. (In Spanish)