With great satisfaction, we successfully held the Bootcamp Asunción 2025 – Human Rights and Technology, an initiative organized by TEDIC and Amnesty International Paraguay, with the support of Diakonia and funding from the European Union. Through the Bootcamp, we aimed to create formative spaces to promote critical reflection, strategic thinking, and practical skills to intervene in urgent debates related to technology, freedom of expression, privacy, artificial intelligence, and digital justice.
This edition of the Bootcamp was aimed at human rights activists and defenders living in Asunción, selected through an open call that received applications from 88 individuals.
The Bootcamp took place through virtual sessions from February 10 to 19, 2025, from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM. The sessions combined theoretical training, practical workshops, and interactive dialogue spaces with national and international experts. The program relied on TEDIC’s Moodle platform, where participants had access to materials, resources, and personalized tutoring.
Key Topics and Expert Tutors
Throughout the training process, key topics at the intersection of human rights and technology were covered, such as:
- The functioning of the Internet
- Privacy and data protection
- Freedom of expression and content moderation
- Basic principles of artificial intelligence (AI)
- Online gender-based violence
- Digital security for activists
- Producing journalistic articles with a human rights focus
Participants had the opportunity to interact with renowned specialists in digital rights, who shared their experiences and knowledge in live sessions. Among the invited experts were:
- Amalia Toledo (Wikimedia Foundation)
- Veridiana Alimonti (Electronic Frontier Foundation)
- Jamila Venturini (Derechos Digitales)
- Patricio Porta (La Política Online)
- Maricarmen Sequera and LuPa (TEDIC)
As part of the process, we provided intensive support through personalized tutoring, which allowed participants to produce original articles related to the topics discussed during the Bootcamp. This final production not only strengthened their writing and critical analysis skills but also contributed new voices to the debate on digital rights from Paraguay.
Some of the notable articles produced include:
- “Our Personal Data Adrift” by Claudia Sanabria
- “Human Rights Activism in the Digital Age: Fighting Without Letting Yourself Be Broken” by Pelao Carvallo, Elba Núñez, Andrea Recalde, and Celeste Vargas
- “Naming to Protect: The Importance of Recognizing Cyber Violence as a Specific Category of Gender-Based Violence” by Lorena Segovia, Julia Fernández, and Valeria Allen
- “What Do ISPs Do with Our Personal Data in Paraguay?” by Carli Matto
- “Law 5777/16: How to Think About the Grey Areas of Democracy in Relation to Technology?” by Jazmín Sánchez
- “The Illusion of the Intelligent: Algorithms, Personnel Selection, and Unconscious Decisions in Paraguay” by María José Jara Fiorio, Mauro Almada, and Ángel Barreto
The articles produced during the Bootcamp were published on the Bootcamp’s website and sent as a newsletter to the TEDIC community as a way to highlight and amplify local voices in the face of contemporary digital challenges, always from a human rights perspective.
The closing event took place on June 4 at the Mediateca, where participants shared their articles and reflections with the public. This space allowed for direct exchange between authors, allied organizations, and people interested in digital rights, strengthening community ties and the commitment to defending human rights in digital environments.
The Bootcamp Asunción 2025 reaffirms TEDIC and Amnesty International Paraguay’s commitment to training activists, journalists, and human rights defenders who are capable of critically influencing the digital ecosystem.
Defending those who defend us