{"id":227428,"date":"2025-07-25T13:43:26","date_gmt":"2025-07-25T13:43:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.internetsociety.org\/?p=227428"},"modified":"2025-12-15T17:43:56","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T17:43:56","slug":"encryption-makes-us-powerful-internet-society-hosts-encryption-advocacy-workshop-for-european-civil-society","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.internetsociety.org\/blog\/2025\/07\/encryption-makes-us-powerful-internet-society-hosts-encryption-advocacy-workshop-for-european-civil-society\/","title":{"rendered":"Encryption Makes\u00a0Us Powerful: Internet Society\u00a0Hosts Encryption Advocacy Workshop for European Civil Society\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>In early February of this year,\u00a0the Internet Society hosted an Encryption Advocacy Workshop in Brussels for European civil society organizations.\u00a0We created this workshop\u00a0alongside steering members of the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.globalencryption.org\/?utm_source=isoc&amp;utm_medium=link&amp;utm_campaign=brussels-workshop\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Global Encryption Coalition<\/a>\u00a0to equip\u00a0potential encryption advocates with:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-neutral-white-background-color has-background\">An understanding of how the Internet works and why\u00a0encryption is a key building block for Internet safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-neutral-white-background-color has-background\">An overview of encryption policy around the world, focusing on technical and legislative trends that could impact strong encryption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-neutral-white-background-color has-background\">Strategies and tools to advocate against\u00a0encryption threats in the European Union and within European member states, namely the proposed\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.internetsociety.org\/resources\/doc\/2022\/internet-impact-brief-eu-proposal-to-prevent-and-combat-child-sexual-abuse\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">EU-Child Sexual Abuse Regulation<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Learn more about the workshop and what encryption means to our participants here:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"video-wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Advocating for Strong Encryption\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/xmD7NYEm21E?start=8&#038;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A total of 13 civil society organizations participated in the workshop, representing topics including gender-based violence, freedom of the press, civic engagement,&nbsp;reproductive, LGBTQ+, and Roma rights. These organizations were selected based on the intersection between their field of advocacy and the impact of encryption policy on their work and communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-blockquote uagb-block-72d4cd98 uagb-blockquote__skin-quotation uagb-blockquote__align-left uagb-blockquote__style-style_2 uagb-blockquote__stack-img-none\"><blockquote class=\"uagb-blockquote\"><span class=\"uagb-blockquote__icon\"><svg width=\"20\" height=\"20\" viewBox=\"0 0 32 32\"><path d=\"M7.031 14c3.866 0 7 3.134 7 7s-3.134 7-7 7-7-3.134-7-7l-0.031-1c0-7.732 6.268-14 14-14v4c-2.671 0-5.182 1.040-7.071 2.929-0.364 0.364-0.695 0.751-0.995 1.157 0.357-0.056 0.724-0.086 1.097-0.086zM25.031 14c3.866 0 7 3.134 7 7s-3.134 7-7 7-7-3.134-7-7l-0.031-1c0-7.732 6.268-14 14-14v4c-2.671 0-5.182 1.040-7.071 2.929-0.364 0.364-0.695 0.751-0.995 1.157 0.358-0.056 0.724-0.086 1.097-0.086z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/span><div class=\"uagb-blockquote__content\">My life without encryption would be, I would say, endangered, probably even personally. We also should be aware that democracy is very fragile.&#8221;<\/div><footer><div class=\"uagb-blockquote__author-wrap uagb-blockquote__author-at-left\"><cite class=\"uagb-blockquote__author\">Adriana Dergam, Prague Centre for Media Skills<\/cite><\/div><\/footer><\/blockquote><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>While encryption policy is hotly debated in the European Union, the voices of rights-based groups that would be most strongly impacted by limitations on encryption have thus far largely been missing from the conversation. A strong motivation for this workshop was to empower civil society partners with the knowledge needed to increase their engagement in what can at times be a technical and complicated issue.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"564\" src=\"https:\/\/www.internetsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Encryption-Workshop-2.jpg\" alt=\"A group of people sit at a table at an encryption workshop in Brussels.\" class=\"wp-image-227466\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.internetsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Encryption-Workshop-2.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.internetsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Encryption-Workshop-2-450x254.jpg 450w, https:\/\/www.internetsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Encryption-Workshop-2-768x433.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.internetsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Encryption-Workshop-2-250x141.jpg 250w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:1px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.internetsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/2022-Encryption-for-Journalists-Factsheet-EN.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Journalists<\/a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.internetsociety.org\/resources\/doc\/2021\/factsheet-how-encryption-can-protect-advocacy-groups-and-social-change-movements\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">advocacy groups<\/a>&nbsp;rely on encryption to do their work effectively and hold power to account. Groups that represent&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.globalencryption.org\/2023\/03\/encryption-a-tool-to-defend-womens-rights\/?utm_source=isoc&amp;utm_medium=link&amp;utm_campaign=brussels-workshop\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">women<\/a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.internetsociety.org\/resources\/doc\/2019\/encryption-factsheet-essential-for-lgbtq-community\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">LGBTQ+<\/a>&nbsp;rights use encryption to protect and empower individuals while building community.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-blockquote uagb-block-383bfc5f uagb-blockquote__skin-quotation uagb-blockquote__align-left uagb-blockquote__style-style_2 uagb-blockquote__stack-img-none\"><blockquote class=\"uagb-blockquote\"><span class=\"uagb-blockquote__icon\"><svg width=\"20\" height=\"20\" viewBox=\"0 0 32 32\"><path d=\"M7.031 14c3.866 0 7 3.134 7 7s-3.134 7-7 7-7-3.134-7-7l-0.031-1c0-7.732 6.268-14 14-14v4c-2.671 0-5.182 1.040-7.071 2.929-0.364 0.364-0.695 0.751-0.995 1.157 0.357-0.056 0.724-0.086 1.097-0.086zM25.031 14c3.866 0 7 3.134 7 7s-3.134 7-7 7-7-3.134-7-7l-0.031-1c0-7.732 6.268-14 14-14v4c-2.671 0-5.182 1.040-7.071 2.929-0.364 0.364-0.695 0.751-0.995 1.157 0.358-0.056 0.724-0.086 1.097-0.086z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/span><div class=\"uagb-blockquote__content\">If we consider the finest examples of journalism we\u2019ve seen in the past years, all of them were possible also because encryption was there as a tool for journalists.&#8221;<\/div><footer><div class=\"uagb-blockquote__author-wrap uagb-blockquote__author-at-left\"><cite class=\"uagb-blockquote__author\"> Dimitri Bettoni, Centro per la Cooperazione Internazionale<\/cite><\/div><\/footer><\/blockquote><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Workshop sessions were led by Internet Society staff and partners from the Global Encryption Coalition including&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.gp-digital.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Global Partners Digital<\/a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/cdt.org\/eu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Center for Democracy and Technology Europe<\/a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.accessnow.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Access Now<\/a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/internetsociety.be\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Internet Society Belgium<\/a>, and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/isoc.nl\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Internet Society Netherlands<\/a>. The workshop ended with a discussion about encryption with Members of European Parliament, MEP&nbsp;Kaljurand (S&amp;D, Estonia) and&nbsp;MEP&nbsp;Vigenin (S&amp;D, Bulgaria).&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"562\" src=\"https:\/\/www.internetsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Encryption-Workshop-3.jpg\" alt=\"A group of people sit at a table at an encryption workshop in Brussels. \" class=\"wp-image-227469\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.internetsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Encryption-Workshop-3.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.internetsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Encryption-Workshop-3-450x253.jpg 450w, https:\/\/www.internetsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Encryption-Workshop-3-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.internetsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Encryption-Workshop-3-250x141.jpg 250w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:1px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The timing of the workshop could not be more pressing for Europe. The looming threat to encryption in the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.globalencryption.org\/2024\/09\/gec-steering-committee-statement-on-9-september-text-of-the-european-csa-regulation\/?utm_source=isoc&amp;utm_medium=link&amp;utm_campaign=brussels-workshop\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">EU\u2019s Child Sexual Abuse Regulation<\/a>&nbsp;continues to be discussed in the Council of the EU, where negotiating member states have reached a stalemate on the issue of encryption. Meanwhile, the European Commission\u2019s&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.globalencryption.org\/2025\/05\/joint-letter-on-the-european-internal-security-strategy-protecteu\/?utm_source=isoc&amp;utm_medium=link&amp;utm_campaign=brussels-workshop\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">European Internal Security Strategy&nbsp;<\/a>has put forward a plan for a \u201cTechnology Roadmap on encryption&#8221; to identify and assess technological solutions that would enable law enforcement authorities to access encrypted data.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yet as certain governments ramp up regulatory efforts to circumvent encryption, the counter push from civil society and the technical community is making a difference. In member states like&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.globalencryption.org\/2025\/04\/joint-letter-on-swedish-data-storage-and-access-to-electronic-information-legislation\/?utm_source=isoc&amp;utm_medium=link&amp;utm_campaign=brussels-workshop\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Sweden<\/a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.globalencryption.org\/2025\/03\/global-encryption-coalition-steering-committee-statement-on-the-dangers-of-the-french-narcotrafic-legislation\/?utm_source=isoc&amp;utm_medium=link&amp;utm_campaign=brussels-workshop\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">France<\/a>, public pressure has successfully pushed back on regulations that would weaken encryption, stalling plans that would have compromised security for all. In the European Union, an increasing number of policymakers use their voices to&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.globalencryption.org\/2024\/12\/european-union-member-states-speak-up-for-encryption\/?utm_source=isoc&amp;utm_medium=link&amp;utm_campaign=brussels-workshop\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">speak up for strong encryption<\/a>, defending the technology as essential to the security of the union and its values.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading has-accent-purple-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-564e4caf677cf58a173ac139088626fd\">With the European workshop complete, we are now setting our eyes to the next edition in the series,&nbsp;which will&nbsp;focus on training civil society advocates based in Africa.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.globalencryption.org\/join\/?utm_source=isoc&amp;utm_medium=link&amp;utm_campaign=brussels-workshop\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Join and support the Global Encryption Coalition<\/a>&nbsp;to become a part of our movement.&nbsp;<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>Image \u00a9 Nicolas Olivier<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In early February of this year,\u00a0the Internet Society hosted an Encryption Advocacy Workshop in Brussels for European civil society organizations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1709,"featured_media":227463,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5693,40,98,31,4898],"tags":[6326],"region_news_regions":[35],"content_category":[6085,6087],"ppma_author":[5633,5719],"class_list":["post-227428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-encryption","category-public-policy","category-privacy","category-strong-internet","tag-advocacy","region_news_regions-europe","content_category-blog-type","content_category-stories-type"],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/www.internetsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Encryption-Workshop-1.jpg",1200,550,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.internetsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Encryption-Workshop-1-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.internetsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Encryption-Workshop-1-450x206.jpg",450,206,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.internetsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Encryption-Workshop-1-768x352.jpg",768,352,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.internetsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Encryption-Workshop-1-1024x469.jpg",1024,469,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.internetsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Encryption-Workshop-1.jpg",1200,550,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.internetsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Encryption-Workshop-1.jpg",1200,550,false],"post-thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.internetsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Encryption-Workshop-1-250x115.jpg",250,115,true],"square":["https:\/\/www.internetsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Encryption-Workshop-1-600x550.jpg",600,550,true],"gform-image-choice-sm":["https:\/\/www.internetsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Encryption-Workshop-1.jpg",300,138,false],"gform-image-choice-md":["https:\/\/www.internetsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Encryption-Workshop-1.jpg",400,183,false],"gform-image-choice-lg":["https:\/\/www.internetsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Encryption-Workshop-1.jpg",600,275,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Callum Voge","author_link":"https:\/\/www.internetsociety.org\/author\/voge\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"In early February of this year,\u00a0the Internet Society hosted an Encryption Advocacy Workshop in Brussels for European civil society organizations.","authors":[{"term_id":5633,"user_id":1709,"is_guest":0,"slug":"voge","display_name":"Callum Voge","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/www.internetsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Callum-Voge-e1654852252731.jpg","url2x":"https:\/\/www.internetsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Callum-Voge-e1654852252731.jpg"},"author_category":"","last_name":"Voge","first_name":"Callum","job_title":"","user_url":"","description":""},{"term_id":5719,"user_id":1747,"is_guest":0,"slug":"bernardi","display_name":"Paula Bernardi","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/www.internetsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Paula-Headshot.png","url2x":"https:\/\/www.internetsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Paula-Headshot.png"},"author_category":"","last_name":"Bernardi","first_name":"Paula","job_title":"","user_url":"","description":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.internetsociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.internetsociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.internetsociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.internetsociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1709"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.internetsociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=227428"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.internetsociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227428\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.internetsociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/227463"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.internetsociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=227428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.internetsociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=227428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.internetsociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=227428"},{"taxonomy":"region_news_regions","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.internetsociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/region_news_regions?post=227428"},{"taxonomy":"content_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.internetsociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content_category?post=227428"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.internetsociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=227428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}