Human Rights Council to examine Internet free speech

By Stuart Corner

The UN's Human Rights Council is to examine Freedom of Expression on the Internet.

This examination will take the from of a panel discussion at the 19th session of Council in March 2012 and follows a decision taken at the Council's 18th meeting that concluded on 30 September. Announcing its decision, the Council said: "On the promotion and protection of freedom of expression on the Internet, the Council adopted a resolution on convening at its nineteenth session a panel discussion on the promotion and protection of freedom of expression on the Internet, with a particular focus on the ways and means to improve its protection in accordance with international human rights law."

The Internet Society (ISOC) welcomed the move but seemed to suggest it entailed a rather greater commitment than the short term initiative indicated in the Council's press release, which referred only to a "panel discussion". ISOC said it welcomed the Council's decision for "the creation of a multi-stakeholder panel on freedom of expression on the Internet."

Markus Kummer, vice president of public policy for the Internet Society, said: "[This decision] reflects the substantial role that the Internet plays in enabling the realisation of a wide range of human rights, such as freedom of expression and opinion, as enshrined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights…Increased attempts by Governments around the world to control their citizens' access and use of the global network, and often with disregard to the basic principles of human rights and due process, make it urgent to address these issues."

According to ISOC, the decision to set up the panel came in response to a proposal from the Swedish Government and followed the release of a report on the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression at the 17th session of the Council, in May, as well as the subsequent cross-regional statement by 40 Governments, which recognised that the same fundamental rights individuals enjoy offline are also applicable to the online world.

ISOC said: "We also recognise this multi-stakeholder initiative as a positive contribution to the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) implementation process. The open, decentralised, and global nature of the Internet has set the foundation for an unprecedented growth for the potential of freedom of expression and peaceful assembly throughout the world."

ISOC also cautioned against Governments using "technological shortcuts," to achieve their policy objectives, saying: "Beyond raising concerns with regard to respect of due process, freedom of expression, and other human rights, such actions can threaten the good functioning of the global Internet as a single, unified, and global communications network…

"For example, DNS blocking and filtering is one of the solutions used by some governments to block access to web sites which have been identified to distribute illicit content," it said. Other measures used include surveillance technology or suspension of Internet access."


(2011-10-4/itwire)