Thread by @natynettle

BREAKING: Bloomberg investigation confirms @Sandvine had been working with Belarus gov for more than a year & provided tech that is filtering about 40% of all internet traffic moving in and out of the country. bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

.@Sandvine rep also met directly with officials in Belarus and later shipped the equipment, via a contractor, to be installed at data centers in Minsk. Senator @DickDurbin is concerned this might be a potential violation of US sanctions & is calling for @USTreasury to investigate

In company’s defense, @Sandvine’s Chief Tech Officer Alexander Haväng
said that even though Belarus may be using the company’s equipment to block websites & messaging apps, the internet, and access to specific material on websites, wasn’t “a part of human rights.”

As a human rights lawyer,I can assure @Sandvine & Mr. Haväng that internet access is ABSOLUTELY “a part of human rights” & encourage them to check out intl human rights law, incl UDHR, ICCPR,General Comment 34, as well as Belarus Constitution before making such ignorant statement

For more information, check out @accessnow #KeepItOn letter to Belarus President Lukashenka, warning him of human rights implications of internet shutdowns accessnow.org/keepiton-joint…

And this is my & @lawyerpants post on @Sandvine and Belarus,calling on the US gov officials to investigate Francisco Partners, Sandvine, & other companies with US connections profiting from selling human rights violating technologies to repressive regimes accessnow.org/francisco-part…

Lastly, I would also like to remind that these are the types of human rights violations that Belarus government was trying to keep in the dark by shutting down the internet and blocking messaging apps. What does @Sandvine ethics committee have to say about that?

https://twitter.com/nexta_tv/status/1293967828547260417

Since this thread is getting a lot of traction, here are some more reports from @accessnow on how censorship and surveillance tech, including Pegasus by NSO Group and FinFisher by Gamma Intl., affect the right to protest accessnow.org/new-world-diso… & accessnow.org/new-report-fin…