About ASL19
We believe unfettered access to information and freedom of expression lead towards an open society that can hold those in power accountable, advance human rights and create positive social impact.
Article 19 of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
We are technologists, journalists, community organizers, designers, refugees, immigrants and so much more. Our shared values bring us together and our principles guide our work. We support people’s rights to securely access information without barriers, to freely express themselves online and to be free from the harms of misinformation. We believe technology can be used to create a positive social impact and open information can hold those in power accountable.
As the Persian translation of Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, ASL19 (اصل۱۹) started in 2012 to support the free flow of information in Iran by circumventing internet censorship. Today, we work on countering threats facing civil society in Iran by designing and developing solutions with and for diverse communities. We believe unfettered access to information and freedom of expression lead towards an open society that can hold those in power accountable, advance human rights and create positive social impact.
Our approach
The communities we serve are at the center of our work and decision-making. Embracing a privacy-by-design approach for all of our products and services, we lay great emphasis on serving the needs and protecting the safety of the communities on the ground. With our focus on censorship-resilience, user-centric design, and partnership-driven problem solving, we embody the idea that where there are barriers, there is always a way.
We support people’s right to freedom of expression and secure, unfettered access to information by developing tools that help circumvent internet censorship and improve people’s digital security and privacy.
We are concerned at the rate mis- and disinformation are spreading online, fueling hate and shaping public opinion in Iran. We work towards countering their harm by fact-checking misinformation and exposing disinformation campaigns.
We publish research on government corruption, build open data platforms, and provide people with tools to hold public officials accountable. When information is power, transparency and openness holds power to account.
We build technology for social good. From ideation to localization, design to product development, we work with our partners to advance human rights and create positive social impact through technology. We design and develop our solutions with and for diverse communities through a human-centered and privacy-first design approach.
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Check out our projects.