Voices - Conversations on Business and Human Rights from Around the World

S04E16 Maryam Al-Khawaja on Technology Companies

Episode Summary

Drawing on examples of companies providing surveillance equipment to governments with a poor human rights record, Maryam Al-Khawaja shows how technology can harm people. In this conversation with IHRB’s Salil Tripathi, Al-Khawaja shows the inadequacy of non-judicial remedies to deal with incidents that cause grave harm to human rights, and the failure of companies to do anything about the adverse impacts of their technologies. Maryam Al-Khawaja is a Bahrainian human rights activist living in Denmark, who was awarded the Rafto Prize in 2013. She is an advisor to the Gulf Center for Human Rights (where she has been director) and offers training to human rights organisations.

Episode Notes

In this podcast with IHRB's Salil Tripathi, Al-Khawaja shows the inadequacy of non-judicial remedies to deal with incidents that cause grave harm to human rights, and the failure of companies to do anything about the adverse impacts of their technologies.