[Chapter-delegates] Internet Freedom

[Christian de Larrinaga]

Christine

Three links for you. Google was represented at the meeting. There was some direct criticism of vendors selling equipment into countries that use them to censor and punish "thought crimes". One release names and shames Cisco. There is a follow up ministerial conference planned for Paris in October and a follow up in Holland by end of 2010. 

The pace of this is pretty rapid for a ministerial level activity (dialogue?). What is not clear is how many other countries are participating / will participate. Nor whether this will feedback as a some form of block of aligned interests in WSIS/IGF. 


http://www.zimbio.com/Bernard+Kouchner/articles/tvDFcCfyXD9/France+Netherlands+seek+halt+Internet+censorship
http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/french-and-dutch-champion-free-speech-web
http://www.ambafrance-uk.org/Bernard-Kouchner-opens-meeting-on.html

Bernard Kouchner opens meeting on "Internet and freedom of expression"

Meeting on “The Internet and freedom of expression” – Communiqué issued by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs

Paris, 8 July 2010

A meeting devoted to the Internet and freedom of expression was held on 8 July 2010 at the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, on the initiative of the French and Dutch Foreign Ministers. It brought together around 60 participants, representatives of 17 governments, NGOs, businesses and international organizations. It was opened by Bernard Kouchner and his Dutch counterpart Maxime Verhagen.

The participants noted the growing number of attacks on freedom of expression on the Internet. In order to fight the negation, in the new media, of this fundamental freedom, they agreed on the need for all State and non-State actors to mobilize.

They have begun work on four major objectives:

 to improve the monitoring of commitments made by States with respect to freedom of expression on the Internet, they stressed the importance of observation and alert mechanisms and recognized the need to coordinate or establish a network between the existing initiatives;

 to increase companies’ accountability in the face of the risks of the misuse of their technologies by authoritarian regimes, they agreed on the urgent need for more effective enforcement of the rules of social accountability;

 to come to the aid of cyber-dissidents confronted by a crackdown on freedom of expression, the participants proposed some very concrete measures which could be implemented through the NGOs active in the field;

 finally, regarding the legal issues relating to the Internet, the standards of international law on freedom of expression do seem to provide the framework for action, but need to be implemented more effectively in the specific context of the new networks by broadening the scope of the discussions on the nature of the Internet, described as a “global public resource” by the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and “global public good” by the European Parliament.

The participants decided to pursue these discussions in the coming months: a ministerial conference will be held in Paris this October; a second meeting will be organized in the Netherlands before the end of 2010./.



Christian 



On 14 Jul 2010, at 09:18, Christine Runnegar wrote:

> Hello Franck,
>  
> Thank you for your email.
> I have not heard anything further since we last exchanged emails.
> I was not able to find anything useful via a Google search. Did you manage to find out any further information? It would be great if you could pass it along.
>  
> Best regards,
> Christine
> 
> ______________________
> 
> Christine Runnegar
> Senior Manager Public Policy
> Internet Society
> Galerie Jean-Malbuisson 15
> CH-1204 Geneva
> Switzerland
> 
> Tel: +41 22 807 1455
> www.isoc.org
>  
> 
> From: Franck Martin [mailto:franck at avonsys.com] 
> Sent: 13 July 2010 10:24 PM
> To: Christine Runnegar
> Cc: chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org
> Subject: Re: [Chapter-delegates] Internet Freedom
> 
> Any updates?
> 
> Franck Martin
> http://www.avonsys.com/
> http://www.facebook.com/Avonsys
> twitter: FranckMartin Avonsys
> 
> Check your domain reputation: http://gurl.im/b69d4o
> 
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