[bestbits] Remarks at UNESCO Closing Ceremony of "Connecting the Dots Conference"
Shawna Finnegan
shawna at apc.org
Thu Mar 5 17:22:28 EST 2015
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Michael,
Could you please describe the precise fears that you have of a global
governance paradigm based on multi-stakeholder processes?
I think you may have too high expectations for democracy. The US
government (along with Canada, the UK, and many other colonizing
global powers) has been violating human rights and destroying
societies long before 'multi-stakeholder' started to look like a
paradigm.
Multi-stakeholder governance is, in my opinion, an extension of
democratic pluralism. Powerful interests capture multi-stakeholder
processes in much the same way as democratic processes.
Going back to a previous comment you made in this thread, I am
surprised to read that you would advocate for any conventional civil
society grouping to shun an organization that did not actively endorse
democracy as a fundamental principle. Justice is a fundamental
principle. Democracy is a system of government. In practice, that
system has been used as a tool to placate us and legitimize powerful
interests.
I very much agree that decisions made by civil society organizations
now, even if through non-action, will have significant consequences
long-term. And I agree that sometimes civil society need to walk out
of negotiations. Perhaps we should have red lines. That is an
important discussion to have.
Shawna
On 15-03-05 01:50 PM, Michael Gurstein wrote:
> Thanks Shawna/Anriette, and welcome to this discussion...
>
> Just a couple of things...
>
> An individual or organization with convictions is judged by its
> willingness to say "no", to walk away when those convictions have
> been trampled upon... In this case the rejection of "democracy" as
> a qualifier for Internet Governance is I think a clear challenge,
> to one's convictions concerning the significance of democracy in
> the context of Internet Governance. APC could (and in my opinion
> should) walk away from situations where there is a clear denial of
> democracy as a fundamental governance principle.
>
> Similarly, the acceptance or rejection of choices is a clear
> indication of preferences... In this case the acceptance of
> "multistakeholderism" where "democracy" had been rejected is a
> clear indication of what appear to be the preferences of those who
> signed on to, or otherwise accepted the Outcome Statement. Thus
> where there is a clear choice, MSism is evidently the preferred
> option for those who signed on to this agreement.
>
> And please be aware that this is not trivial...
>
> The USG has made it quite clear in a variety of contexts that they
> see MSism as their preferred paradigm for global governance in the
> wide variety of areas going forward (notably of course not in
> security/surveillance). Thus accepting the elimination of
> "democracy" as a necessary element of Internet Governance is a
> pre-figuration of what we can expect in the range of other areas
> requiring global decision making in the future. Is this APC's
> preferred position?
>
> The manner in which MSism operates in practice is a form of
> governance by elites. A prioritization of MSism by APC and others
> means that the necessary explorations of how democratic governance
> can most effectively operate in the Internet age is deferred if not
> completely ignored, of course further empowering the elites and
> the 1%. Again is this APC's preferred position?
>
> So decisions made by APC now, even if they are done through
> non-action rather than action will contribute to very significant
> consequences in the longer term and again I repeat my question --
> "has APC (and others who are so blithely jumping on the MS
> bandwagon) debated and then agreed to favour notions of
> multistakeholderism over a commitment to democracy as part of their
> own normative structures...?
>
> Best,
>
> M
>
>
> -----Original Message----- From: Shawna Finnegan
> [mailto:shawna at apc.org] Sent: March 5, 2015 11:23 AM To: Michael
> Gurstein Cc: bestbits at lists.bestbits.net;
> governance at lists.igcaucus.org Subject: Re: [bestbits] Remarks at
> UNESCO Closing Ceremony of "Connecting the Dots Conference"
>
> Dear Michael,
>
> While I am not active in these lists, I do try to follow the
> discussion, and would like to take the opportunity to respond to
> your question about whether APC has debated and agreed to favour
> notions of 'multistakeholderism' over a commitment to democracy.
>
> In the 3+ years that I have worked with APC, my experience has been
> that we debate the strengths and weaknesses of various
> multi-stakeholder spaces on an ongoing basis, and discuss whether
> it is strategic to engage in those spaces. At the same time, we
> support our members to advocate for changes in laws and policies,
> and actively engage in intergovernmental bodies, such as the UN
> Human Rights Council.
>
> Moreover, when there is opportunity to contribute to ongoing
> discussion about multistakeholder processes and 'enhanced
> cooperation', APC has emphasized that multi-stakeholder
> participation is a means to achieve inclusive democratic internet
> governance:
>
> "Multi-stakeholder participation is not an end in itself, it is a
> means to achieve the end of inclusive democratic internet
> governance that enables the internet to be a force, to quote from
> the Geneva Declaration, for “the attainment of a more peaceful,
> just and prosperous world.”
>
> (from our submission:
> http://www.apc.org/en/system/files/APC_response_CSTD_WGEC_10092013.pdf)
>
> There is no agreement to favour notions of 'multistakeholderism'
> over a commitment to democracy because the dilemma is false. APC
> engages where we see the opportunity to positively affect change.
>
> Shawna
>
> On 15-03-05 08:04 AM, Michael Gurstein wrote:
>> Pardon my "tone" Anriette, but I find a UN document signed off on
>> by significant elements of Civil Society which excludes reference
>> to "democracy" in favour of the vague and non-defined terminology
>> of "multistakeholderism
>> <https://gurstein.wordpress.com/2014/03/26/the-multistakeholder-model-neo-liberalism-and-global-internet-governance/>"
>>
>>
>
>>
and which equally excludes references in any way supportive of social
>> justice along with a rationalization of this because of "lack of
>> space" and presumptions of "conceptual baggage", as quite
>> "demeaning" of all those who were in any way a party to this
>> travesty.
>>
>>
>>
>> This combined with the non-transparency of the selection of the
>> responsible parties and of their deliberative activities and
>> equally of the provenance of the funding support provided for the
>> Civil Society component who were able to attend this event and
>> thus provide the overall framework of legitimacy for this output
>> document should I think raise alarm bells among any with a degree
>> of independent concern for how normative structures are evolving
>> (or "being evolved") in this sphere.
>>
>>
>>
>> BTW, has APC debated and then agreed to favour notions of
>> multistakeholderism over a commitment to democracy as part of its
>> own normative structures as I queried in my previous email?
>>
>>
>>
>> M
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message----- From:
>> bestbits-request at lists.bestbits.net
>> [mailto:bestbits-request at lists.bestbits.net] On Behalf Of
>> Anriette Esterhuysen Sent: March 5, 2015 2:36 AM To:
>> governance at lists.igcaucus.org Cc: bestbits at lists.bestbits.net
>> Subject: [bestbits] Remarks at UNESCO Closing Ceremony of
>> "Connecting the Dots Conference"
>>
>>
>>
>> Dear all
>>
>>
>>
>> Just an explanation and some context.
>>
>>
>>
>> I was on the 'coordinating committee' of the event. Our role was
>> to review comments on the draft statement and support the chair
>> and secretariat in compiling drafts.
>>
>>
>>
>> The final UNESCO outcome document did include the vast majority
>> of text/proposals submitted by civil society beforehand and
>> onsite.
>>
>>
>>
>> This includes text submitted by Richard Hill on behalf of JNC
>> (Richard made several editorial suggestions which improved the
>> text) and text from Anita Gurumurthy from IT for Change (which
>> greatly improved weakened language on gender in the pre-final
>> draft).
>>
>>
>>
>> The text on 'social and economic rights' were not excluded for
>> any reason other than it came during the final session and the
>> Secretariat were trying to keep the document short and linked
>> directly to the Study.
>>
>> It was decided to elaborate on the links to broader rights, and
>> to UNESCO needing to work with other rights bodies, in the final
>> study report rather than in the outcome statement.
>>
>>
>>
>> Again, not ideal from my perspective, but that was the outcome of
>> the discussion.
>>
>>
>>
>> It is a pity that 'democratic' was not added, but it was never
>> really an option. I personally, and APC, support linking
>> democratic to multistakeholder and we were happy that this
>> happened in the NETmundial statement. And reading Norbert's text
>> below (thanks for that Norbert) I would like to find a way to
>> make sure that the meaning of democratic However, in the UN IG
>> context there is a very particular angle to why "democratic
>> multistakeholder" is so contentious. In the Tunis Agenda the word
>> "democratic" is directly linked with the word "multilateral" -
>> every time it occurs. This means that people/governments who feel
>> that 'multilateral' can be used to diminish the recognition given
>> to the importance of multistakeholder participation, and take the
>> debate back intergovernmental oversight of IG, will not agree to
>> having 'democratic'
>>
>> in front of multistakeholder.
>>
>>
>>
>> In the context of these UN type negotiations it will be code for
>> reinserting multilateral (in the meaning of 'among governments')
>> into the text.
>>
>>
>>
>> At the NETmundial we had to fight for 'democratic
>> multistakeholder', but because it is a 'new' text we succeeded.
>>
>>
>>
>> The thing with documents that come out of the UN system is that
>> they are full of invisible 'hyperlinks' to previous documents and
>> political struggles that play themselves out in multiple spaces.
>>
>>
>>
>> I actually looked for a quote from the Tunis Agenda that we could
>> insert (at Richard's suggestion) to see if I could find a
>> reference to democratic that is not linked to 'multilateral' but
>> I could not find this quote, and I showed this to Richard and
>> warned him that unfortunately 'democratic' will most likely not
>> be included.
>>
>>
>>
>> I can confirm that the editing group did consider this seriously,
>> but that the number of objections to this text were far greater
>> than the number of requests for putting it in.
>>
>>
>>
>> This is simply in the nature of consensus texts that are
>> negotiated in this way.
>>
>>
>>
>> There was also much stronger text on anonymity and encryption as
>> fundamental enablers of online privacy and freedom of expression
>> in the early draft. But it had to be toned down on the insistence
>> of the government of Brazil as the Brazilian constitution states
>> that anonymity is illegitimate.
>>
>>
>>
>> Civil society never succeeds in getting everything it wants in
>> documents we negotiate with governments. We have to evaluate the
>> gains vs. the losses.
>>
>>
>>
>> In my view the gains in this document outweighs the losses.
>> Supporting it means that we have UN agency who has a presence in
>> the global south who will put issues that are important to us on
>> its agenda, which will, I hope, create the opportunity for more
>> people from civil society, particularly from developing
>> countries, to learn, participate and influence internet-related
>> debates with policy-makers.
>>
>>
>>
>> Michael, as for your tone, and your allegations. I don't really
>> know what to say about them. They are false, they are destructive
>> and they demean not only the work of the civil society
>> organisations or individuals you name, but also the work - and
>> what I believe to be the values - of the Just Net Coalition.
>>
>>
>>
>> Anriette
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On 05/03/2015 11:46, Norbert Bollow wrote:
>>
>>> On Thu, 5 Mar 2015 02:27:14 +0100
>>
>>> Jeremy Malcolm <jmalcolm at eff.org <mailto:jmalcolm at eff.org>>
>>> wrote:
>>
>>>
>>
>>>> On Mar 4, 2015, at 7:54 PM, Michael Gurstein
>>>> <gurstein at gmail.com
>> <mailto:gurstein at gmail.com>>
>>
>>>> wrote:
>>
>>>>>
>>
>>>>> Perhaps we could have an explanation from Jeremy and others
>>>>> on the
>>
>>>>> drafting committee as to when and how "democracy" and
>>>>> "social and
>>
>>>>> economic rights' became unacceptable terms in a document
>>>>> meant to
>>
>>>>> have global significance?
>>
>>>>
>>
>>>>
>>
>>>> With pleasure. This is why:
>>
>>>>
>>
>>>> http://igfwatch.org/discussion-board/unesco-resists-jncs-attempt-to-
>>>>
>>>>
t
>>
>>>> urn-democracy-against-ordinary-internet-users
>>
>>>
>>
>>> I would like to hereby state clearly that what Jeremy claims is
>>> JNC's
>>
>>> view of "democratic multi-stakeholderism" is not an actual
>>> position of
>>
>>> JNC.
>>
>>>
>>
>>> For JNC, "democratic" simply means: democratic.
>>
>>>
>>
>>> We insist that just like governance at national levels must be
>>
>>> democratic (which has been internationally accepted as a human
>>> right,
>>
>>> even if there are countries where this is not currently
>>> implemented
>>
>>> satisfactorily), any and all global governance must also be
>>> democratic.
>>
>>>
>>
>>> JNC's foundational document, the Delhi Declaration, states this
>>> as
>>
>>> follows:
>>
>>>
>>
>>> Globally, there is a severe democratic deficit with regard to
>>
>>> Internet governance. It is urgently required to establish
>>
>>> appropriate platforms and mechanisms for global governance of
>>> the
>>
>>> Internet that are democratic and participative.
>>
>>>
>>
>>> We are opposed to any kind of system in which
>>> multistakeholderism is
>>
>>> implemented in a way that is not democratic.
>>
>>>
>>
>>> We are *not* opposed to participative mechanisms for global
>>> governance
>>
>>> of the Internet. In fact we explicitly demand, in our
>>> foundational
>>
>>> document, mechanisms for global governance of the Internet
>>> which are
>>
>>> democratic *and* participative.
>>
>>>
>>
>>> This demand has nothing whatsoever to do with what Jeremy
>>> claims is
>>
>>> our goal, which he describes as “limited type of
>>> government-led
>>
>>> rulemaking”. That would clearly *not* be participative.
>>
>>>
>>
>>> We insist that Internet governance must be democratic *and*
>>
>>> participative.
>>
>>>
>>
>>> Is that so hard to understand???
>>
>>>
>>
>>>
>>
>>> The above-mentioned post of Jeremy also links, twice, to an
>>> earlier
>>
>>> blog post of his, and he claims that he has there "revealed
>>> ... the
>>
>>> agenda of the Just Net Coalition". That post happens to be
>>> quite full
>>
>>> of factually false assertions. I have now published my response
>>> (which
>>
>>> had previously been communicated in a non-public manner) at
>>
>>>
>>
>>> http://justnetcoalition.org/reply-jeremy-malcolm
>>
>>>
>>
>>> Greetings,
>>
>>> Norbert
>>
>>> co-convenor, Just Net Coalition
>>
>>> http://JustNetCoalition.org
>>
>>>
>>
>>>
>>
>>>
>>
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>>
>>
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