[governance] Egypt and Internet Governance

Mon Jan 31 06:01:37 EST 2011

Hi all

It's abhorrent that the Egyptian government is trying to stifle communication in this way.  It just goes to show how powerful communication is.  The continued activism of people on the streets in Egypt in these circumstances, and the ways in which information is still circulating inside and outside of the country, are testimony to people's dedication and commitment.  

I think the Charter that the IRP dynamic coalition is working on could be a useful, international campaigning document in circumstances like this..... We of course shouldn't overestimate the extent to which statements of principles, or even international law, impact on authoritarian, or even so-called democratic, states.  I was asked recently by an activist from Gaza what impact the Charter could have in the contexts she's working in....in which governments wield power over private companies in arbitrary ways.  But if we can build an authoritative document that has broad support from different communities, we can hopefully push norms in the right direction, we have a solid basis for our campaigning work, and can demonstrate the relevance (and necessity) of human rights as a framework for Internet governance.

RE Access as a right....we've had extensive discussions on this for the Charter.  At the moment, we've framed Internet access as a right because it's a constituent element of freedom of expression and other rights.  Frank La Rue, the UN Special Rapporteur for freedom of opinion and expression, argues very strongly that access to the Internet is a fundamental component of freedom of expression in today's world.  

International law states that it is only permissible to place limitations or restrictions on expression in extremely narrow circumstances that are defined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.  National security and pubic order is included, but this doesn't mean that it can simply be used as an excuse. States must ensure that any limitation or restriction is provided for by clear and precise laws.  They must demonstrate that the limitation or restriction is strictly necessary to meet the specific purpose.  This means that any restriction must be carefully tailored to target the specific aim, must be narrowly defined, and must yield proportionately greater benefit to society than the harm that it causes to freedom of expression.  Shutting down the Internet amidst popular protest in Egypt is clearly in violation of these principles.

RE Rule of law....the Charter is pushing for rule of law on the Internet...it's too often ignored.  So I agree with Ian...states have to have a court order to do anything that limits expression.  Yes, states all over the world will continue to ignore this, and courts can act as mere rubber stampers.  But that just means we should redouble our efforts to push for respect for established standards and procedures.  

In response to Sala's question, and for those unfamiliar with the Charter project...- the Charter of Human Rights and Principles for the Internet is an attempt to translate international human rights standards to apply to the Internet.  It's a bit different from some similar initiatives in this area a number of ways:

- Each article is firmly rooted in existing human rights standards.  We're trying to harness the moral and legal weight of international human rights law to make sure that the document is as authoritative as possible.

- To make the Charter useful for different groups, and also authoritative, the final Charter will consist of 3 documents: 
a) a set of overarching principles which set out the main standards that states should be adhering to; 
b) an explanatory document which explores the detail of each article - its roots in international law, whether it's a standard that is progressively realizable (e.g. universal accessibility) or immediate (absence of censorship).
c) a matrix which breaks down the roles and responsibilities of different stakeholders, including private sector.  Whilst human rights are only binding on states, John Ruggie's (the UN special representative on human rights and transnational corporations) framework giving companies responsibility to respect human rights is gaining increasing authority at the international level.  We're trying to work out what that means in the context of the Internet.

- We're trying to make it as comprehensive as possible - i.e. not just focusing on civil and political rights, but also upholding the principle of the indivisibility of rights - including economic, social and cultural rights too.The coalition is multi-stakeholder (or trying to be!!), with engagement in the process from individuals in the private, technical, government and civil society sectors.

Unfortunately, the Charter isn't finished yet...we have a draft that we discussed in Vilnius, and plan to have a more finalized version for the next IGF.  We're currently working out how we're going to finalise it  over the coming months - consulting with relevant experts and different user communities etc.  So please do join us if you'd like to get involved....we need your help!  You can sign up to the IRP mailing list here: http://lists.internetrightsandprinciples.org/listinfo.cgi/irp-internetrightsandprinciples.org

Finally, there's also the Global Network Initiative (GNI) that has already developed a code of conduct for companies operating in countries with limited human rights protections.  Their principles are a good place to start I think.  Whilst companies do have to respect national law, the Initiative outlines steps they should take e.g. risk assessments when going into countries, challenging any requests to restrict expression and privacy, being transparent about their activities etc.

Apologies for the length of the email!

All the best,
Lisa

-----Original Message-----
From: governance-request at lists.cpsr.org [mailto:governance-request at lists.cpsr.org] On Behalf Of Lee W McKnight
Sent: 30 January 2011 19:35
To: governance at lists.cpsr.org; Michael Gurstein
Subject: RE: [governance] Egypt and Internet Governance

Michael,

I don't recall off-hand every last paragraph of the draft Charter of Internet Rights  under discussion on the Internet Rights and Principles list...but wouldn't something along the lines you suggest be most easily promoted through that, perhaps by adding an additional paragraph or clause if needed?

Which was already a topic for discussion at the next IGF right...

Lee
________________________________________
From: governance-request at lists.cpsr.org [governance-request at lists.cpsr.org] On Behalf Of Michael Gurstein [gurstein at gmail.com]
Sent: Sunday, January 30, 2011 11:09 AM
To: governance at lists.cpsr.org
Subject: RE: [governance] Egypt and Internet Governance

I think that we need to see these as long term processes with multiple
actors, influences, potential outcomes and so on.

But there would clearly seem to be a need for a statement of principles/code
of conduct with respect to access to/the opportunity to use the means of
communication.  That there will be opposition to such is hardly relevent to
the articulation and civil society agitation in support of such a set of
principles/code.

That governments or whoever would insist that there were various kinds of
clauses to ensure their ultimate authority in these areas is similarly
irrelevant since as with Human Rights agreements/codes their presence acts
as some sort of standard against which breaches can be measured and
responded to and governments (and the private sector) can be held
accountable.

It is hard to see what in the area of Global Internet Governance could be of
more importance than the setting in place of a process for the formulation
and ratification of such an agreement.

Mike

-----Original Message-----
From: governance-request at lists.cpsr.org
[mailto:governance-request at lists.cpsr.org] On Behalf Of Norbert Bollow
Sent: Sunday, January 30, 2011 4:27 AM
To: governance at lists.cpsr.org
Subject: Re: [governance] Egypt and Internet Governance

> In message <20110130113619.A00C915C195 at quill.bollow.ch>, at 12:36:19
> on
> Sun, 30 Jan 2011, Norbert Bollow <nb at bollow.ch> writes
>
> >I strongly support pushing for a "code of conduct" of some kind that
> >incorporates this principle.
>
> Who drafts it, who signs up, and who polices it?

It could be drafted by some kind of "dynamic coalition" process in the IGF
context.

Unless some countries are interested in creating a formal international
treaty with some kind of enforcement provisions, it would be policed only to
the extent that of course nothing will stop the legislature of any country
from adding the principles of the "code of conduct" to the national laws.

But even if this doesn't happen in any single country, even if following the
"code of conduct" remains, from a legal perspective, entirely voluntary, I
would expect that the document could still have a very significant practical
impact.

Just like many of IETF's RFCs have very significant practical impact even
without them having been formally adopted by any national legislature, or
even by any standardization organization with the kind of formal
international recognition that e.g. ISO has. And there's definitely to
"internet police" to enforce the RFCs.

Greetings,
Norbert ____________________________________________________________
You received this message as a subscriber on the list:
     governance at lists.cpsr.org
To be removed from the list, visit:
     http://www.igcaucus.org/unsubscribing

For all other list information and functions, see:
     http://lists.cpsr.org/lists/info/governance
To edit your profile and to find the IGC's charter, see:
     http://www.igcaucus.org/

Translate this email: http://translate.google.com/translate_t

____________________________________________________________
You received this message as a subscriber on the list:
     governance at lists.cpsr.org
To be removed from the list, visit:
     http://www.igcaucus.org/unsubscribing

For all other list information and functions, see:
     http://lists.cpsr.org/lists/info/governance
To edit your profile and to find the IGC's charter, see:
     http://www.igcaucus.org/

Translate this email: http://translate.google.com/translate_t

____________________________________________________________
You received this message as a subscriber on the list:
     governance at lists.cpsr.org
To be removed from the list, visit:
     http://www.igcaucus.org/unsubscribing

For all other list information and functions, see:
     http://lists.cpsr.org/lists/info/governance
To edit your profile and to find the IGC's charter, see:
     http://www.igcaucus.org/

Translate this email: http://translate.google.com/translate_t

______________________________________________________________________
This email has been scanned by the MessageLabs Email Security System.
For more information please visit http://www.messagelabs.com/email 
______________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
You received this message as a subscriber on the list:
     governance at lists.cpsr.org
To be removed from the list, visit:
     http://www.igcaucus.org/unsubscribing

For all other list information and functions, see:
     http://lists.cpsr.org/lists/info/governance
To edit your profile and to find the IGC's charter, see:
     http://www.igcaucus.org/

Translate this email: http://translate.google.com/translate_t