The past year was a true test for anyone defending a digital future that serves social, gender and environmental justice. In a year marked by severe global funding cuts and the increasing use of technology in ways that harm marginalised communities and the planet, our latest annual report, which has just been released, reveals how our network is actively shaping technology for the common good.
During 2025, our staff and network of members and partners worked across 63 countries. In partnership with our financial supporters, through APC's subgranting we directly supported 206 initiatives in 48 of these countries, most of them in the Global South. Together, we built common agendas, while ensuring the presence of rights and justice perspectives in digital tech discourses. We act collectively to shape digital standards, policies, processes and norms, while nurturing our own collective capacity for safety, care and resilience. We shared resources and knowledge as a way to learn, grow and thrive.
But how does all this translate in practice? In a five-part series, throughout the month of October, we will be republishing the experiences gathered for the report’s impact section.
Read on for the third piece of the series, focusing on how our community is boosting our collective capacity for safety, care and digital resilience.
Building collective capacity for safety, care and resilience
We built the holistic security of feminists and women human rights defenders (WHRDs) across regions in the Global South. Defenders, organisations and networks developed new services oriented towards resilience, security and care, including Burmese WHRDs in exile, who became peer-led protectors for holistic security, and APC member Point of View, which strengthened the capacity of its helpline responders, leading to more effective support for digital violence survivors. As part of the Safety for Voices initiative, APC and its partners IM-Defensoras and Urgent Action Fund worked with WHRDs in 42 countries across the Global South to build their security capacity and develop rapid response support to confront digital violations of defenders. A significant focus in 2025 was deepening collaboration between IM-Defensoras and digital protection teams to strengthen the documentation of the psychosocial impacts of digital attacks – a core element of the feminist holistic protection strategy – in its registry of attacks on Mesoamerican WHRDs. The queer movement in Bangladesh meanwhile built its capacity in digital security and digital rights trainings through local Feminist Tech eXchanges and introduced digital safety skills building and digital rights and governance discourse into its work. These results were made possible through a multi-year partnership with APC’s Our Voices, Our Futures consortium.
We supported the development and sharing of security toolkits in Latin America and Asia. Across projects, we supported the creation and exchange of tools for holistic security among organisations and activists. In Latin America, TEDIC shared its integrated SAFETAG-plus-emotional-security methodology with other civil society organisations; Media Matters for Democracy in Pakistan developed a digital security methodology for transgender people in their region; and the regional and country teams of the UN Refugee Agency in South and Southeast Asia now use a toolkit for monitoring hate speech and disinformation targeting refugee populations.
We developed the capacity of communities to run community networks. Across regions, APC worked with its partners to build the capacity to run community-centred connectivity networks sustainably and in a way that benefits the rights of communities and their territories. New editions of the Blended Training for ICT Network Managers in Indigenous and Rural Communities were launched in Latin America and Africa. Organised by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Rhizomatica, and regional partners the African Advanced Level Telecommunications Institute (AFRALTI) and REDES A.C., and supported by the Local Networks (LocNet) initiative, the programmes strengthened local capacity to build and manage community networks. The Africa edition convened 44 participants from 18 countries, while the edition in Latin America gathered 85 participants, involving community communicators from 14 countries. Meanwhile, the Foundation for Media Alternatives emphasised the importance of integrating digital safety into community connectivity efforts during the Philippine Community-Centred Connectivity Initiatives Bootcamp, held in November. The three-day bootcamp convened community network builders, social enterprise leaders and digital rights advocates to strengthen inclusive and community-driven approaches to connectivity. In Indonesia, APC member Common Room supported multiple community networks in their country. This article features the different ways they are connecting underserved communities, while building the local capacity of men and women. Participants in the 2025 community-centred connectivity initiatives bootcamp organised by APC in Brazil also developed capacities to work together as a gender collective within the Brazilian community network movement. Lastly, the LocNet initiative supported a growing community of practice focused on the development of solar-powered sensors for agricultural, environmental and territorial monitoring.
We encouraged organisations to work with FLOSS. Across projects, we promoted FLOSS as a sustainable software choice, raising awareness of FLOSS projects and funding opportunities in the Global South. A key success story was Astraea's technical labs for human rights defenders developing its open source infrastructure with APC’s support. We also created the "Building a Free Internet of the Future" series of articles together with our NGI Zero partners to promote FLOSS and sustainable computing. During 2025, the series featured 10 conversations with representatives of projects supported by NGI Zero grants. It highlighted alternatives to YouTube, free software to support self-organising in local communities, and how to extend the life of consumer electronics. Meanwhile, through subgrant support, our member Open Culture Foundation collated open source safety tools to support human rights defenders in Taiwan.
APC would like to thank its strong community of members, associates, staff, partners and supporters who, year after year, make these achievements and their significant impact possible. For more information we also invite you to explore our 2025 annual report in full.