ASL19 (

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

: اصل ١٩) is an independent technology organisation that works toward practical responses for online access to information. Their work has been mired in allegations of sexual abuse and workplace harassment. Based in Toronto, ASL19 was founded in 2012 with the support of the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

Citizen Lab The Citizen Lab is an interdisciplinary laboratory based at the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto, Canada. It was founded by Ronald Deibert in 2001. The laboratory studies information controls that impact the openness ...

. The University of Toronto has sought to distance themselves from the organisation since controversy about the organization was raised in 2017. In a November 2017 statement to Toronto's

Metro News Metro International is a Swedish global media company based in Luxembourg that publishes the ''Metro'' newspapers. Metro International's advertising sales have grown at a compound annual growth rate of 41 percent since launch of the first news ...

a university spokeswoman stated: "ASL19 has collaborated with Citizen Lab on research projects in the past and allowed its staff, including Karimzadeh Bangi, to make use of its facilities in 2012-14. Citizen Lab has not recently engaged in any such efforts with either ASL19 or Mr. Bangi. ASL19 is a completely separate and distinct organization."

Controversy

Allegations of sexual assault

An investigative reportage by The Verge and an open letter from anonymous former female employees alleged workplace abuse and harassment existed within the organization. A freedom of information request from Ontario human rights tribunal demonstrated that an allegation of abuse and sexual assault had occurred within the workplace, while ASL19 managing staffs were allegedly complicit in covering up the alleged abuse. In the one reported case the organisation reportedly sought out a non-disclosure agreement. Digital rights organisation

Access Now Access Now is a non-profit organization founded in 2009 with a mission to defend and extend the digital civil rights of people around the world. Access Now supports programs including an annual conference on Human Rights (RightsCon), an index ...

terminated their partnership with ASL19 for their

RightsCon Access Now is a non-profit organization founded in 2009 with a mission to defend and extend the digital civil rights of people around the world. Access Now supports programs including an annual conference on Human Rights (RightsCon), an index ...

summit series in December 2017. Access Now stated they will only reengage with ASL19 once they "feel confident that any reports of misconduct have been investigated and there has been an appropriate response." The organization has yet to change this policy.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Thinkprogress.org

Citizenlab.org

Iranmediaresearch.org
Internet-related activism Internet governance advocacy groups Organizations based in Toronto