Why we collaborate

A broader understanding of the digital media environment is desperately needed. Many tech writers, personalities and organizations have arrived at specialization, some focus deeply on software licensing, others on open access, copyright reform, online privacy, and others focus on cultural issues. Our collective opening of the mind regarding the previously mentioned topics signifies a new movement is on its way. The goal of the Digital Rights project is to embrace this verity of topics, we seek not to differentiate our causes from one another, but to unify them.

Many topics, issues and stories regarding digital technologies have often a common, subtle, tread. Many social, political, economical and tech issues are often related in how we perceive them, act upon them and how we decide to tackle them. The topics discussed here cover great areas, from A.I. to Humane Tech, from Algorithmic bias to misinformation, from inclusivity in silicon valley to economic and social injustice. For us intersectionality is the name of the game.

It is then crucial for us to accept and invite diverse perspectives on the matter. We are more than happy to host your work with us. If you are a writer, blogger, video-maker, artist, musician, podcaster or produce any media that can be placed inside a website we’re glad to work together.

Publish with us

Long story short: Send us a link to your image, video, podcast etc. Or if your work is in written form, transform it to Markdown and send it to us via email (Contact info below). Inside the e-mail make sure to introduce yourself, be polite and have fun. We’ll be happy to work with you!

Does my work fit in?

If it involves technology and people, then it most likely fits. We are looking to highlight, analyze and theorize about how technology shapes us and how we shape technology. We are not afraid of political, economical or social undertones because these areas are just different manifestation of the same core issue.

If your work touches upon social inequality amplified by technology, Human Rights and their application in online spaces, online culture, social media platforms and their relationship with society, freedom and autonomy in the digital age, digital privacy, copyright reform, the attention economy or any other neighbor topics, the your work will find a home here.

The work of organizations such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Free Software Foundation, Creative Commons, the Tor project, Assess Now, The Association of Progressive Communications, FairPhone, Mozilla, and the Center of Humane Technology are examples of the type of topics we tackle here on Digital Rights.

How to format your work

Written works should be formated in Markdown. Video, image and audio based works should be uploaded somewhere else, then share the link with us.

Markdown formatting

Written documents must be sent in Markdown, since we use markdown formatting to publish on our website. Markdown is a formatting syntax with the goal of simplifying basic HTML. You can write your work in markdown, or transform a Word document into Markdown.

Write in Markdown

Markdown documents are text documents written with a very specific syntax. For example to make a sentence italics, you must add asterisks around the sentence. There are other way to make text bold, mark titles and subtitles, make lists, and so on.

To learn and practice Markdown you can follow this tutorial by clicking here.

An example of Markdown formatting can be found here. A more elaborate explanation of markdown is available on markdownguide.org.

To save your work in markdown simply save it with the termination .md. Just like word documents end in .docx and PDF’s end in .pdf, markdown documents end in .md.

Now that you have saved your document you can send it our way! More information below.

Transform to Markdown

Tools like Pandoc are extremely useful, but unintuitive for beginners. If you’re not interested in Pandoc, try instead an online Ritch text to Markdown tool like markitdown.medusis.com.

To use this online tool, select your text from Microsoft Word, or whatever editor you use like Google Drive or Pages, and paste it in the top-most text box; then simply click on Convert to markdown and voilà!

Finally open notepad, or other plain text editor and stave the file with the termination .md, for example an essay about time in the digital age should be named something amongst the lines of digital time.md.

Video formatting

Once you have created your video upload it to your preferred platform, for example YouTube. The video itself is your creation, no other requirements from us - You have full creative freedom over your video. We do not require video makers to use our logo or branding, although mentioning us in the video or dropping a link on the description is appreciated, but not necessary.

Now that your video is on YouTube; or other hosting services like Vimeo, PeerTube or the Internet Archive; make sure the video is set to public and copy the link of your video, this is the URL you’ll be sending our way.

Image formatting

If you create posters, digital art or photography that reflects upon the topics we tackle we’re more than happy to signal boost your work - or even work with you in the future! We don’t have any strict rules regarding the content of your work, as long as it fits our topics you can send it our way.

First create your work, we do not require we use our branding, logo, or even mention our name textually or visually. Then upload your work to your preferred image hosting service; such as Flickr, Imgur or Pixelfed. Finally copy the link of your work and send it to us, more information below.

Audio formatting

We also welcome audio based media, like interviews, podcasts & music of all types. Your creation is not limited by submission rules, as long as your work relates to the topics at hand you can publish it with us. You are not required to use our branding, or even mention our name; although we appreciate the gesture.

Once your work is finished, upload it to your favorite audio hosting platform; we recommend platforms that allow for embedding your work in HTML or iFrame. Platforms like SoundCloud, the Internet Archive and various podcast hosts allow for embedding your content. Once your work is uploaded copy the link and get in contact with us.

Send your work

Send us your contribution with a brief introduction about you & your work. Be friendly and polite, we’re always happy to have you around!

Write us an e-mail, attach your work and well come back with you as soon as possible. If you want to discuss your project(s) before publishing with us just send us an email or contact us on social media to chat about it.

Get in contact

Reach out to us by e-mail or social media.