The Charter of Human Rights and Principles for the Internet Table of Contents Introduction 1
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Internet Rights & Principles Coalition the charter of human rights and principles for the internet Table of Contents Introduction 1 How to Get Involved 3 How the IRPC Charter 4 Came About 10 Rights & Principles 6 for the Internet Charter of Human Rights 8 & Principles for the Internet (Version 1.1) Appendices 28 © August 2014 – 4th Edition Internet Rights and Principles Dynamic Coalition UN Internet Governance Forum This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License Compiled and edited by Marianne Franklin, with Robert Bodle and Dixie Hawtin Design by Zeena Feldman Internet Rights & Principles Coalition 1 Introduction The Internet Rights & Principles Dynamic and other covenants that make up the Coalition is an international network of International Bill of Human Rights at the individuals and organizations working to United Nations (http://www.ohchr.org/ uphold human rights in the online environ- EN/Issues/Pages/WhatareHumanRights. ment and across the spectrum of internet aspx). It is the outcome of work from policy-making domains. It is based at the many people and organisations over UN Internet Governance Forum, an open the years and is growing in stature as “multistakeholder” forum for government, others start to apply its 23 clauses to business, and civil society groups to come specific situations. In 2011, the coalition together to discuss mutual points of con- launched the Ten Punchy Principles cern that fall under the rubric of internet (http://internetrightsandprinciples.org/ governance (http://www.intgovforum.org/ site/campaign), a distillation of ten key cms). values and principles underlying the Charter. This booklet contains both these Since 2008, the IRP Coalition has been documents. At the UNESCO First WSIS active in promoting rights-based principles +10 Review Meeting in early 2013 (https:// for internet governance, at the global IGF www.unesco-ci.org/cmscore/events/51- as well as in regional meetings and related rights-based-principles-and-internet- events. Individuals and organizations in taking-stock-and-moving-forward), the IRP the IRP Coalition come from all walks of Coalition set out on the second phase of life. It has participants from the Global the IRPC Charter, “Charter 2.0”. South and Global North—grassroots groups, international NGOs, researchers, activists, lawyers, businesses, internet and The aim of the Charter 2.0 project mobile phone service providers, technical is twofold: communities, government representatives, 1 To raise more awareness about the and intergovernmental organizations. Charter in light of increasing public concern at the national and international The main work of the Internet Rights levels about the protection and and Principles Coalition (IRP Coalition) to enjoyment of human rights online as well date has been to translate existing human as offline. rights to the internet environment to build 2 To open up participation and input as awareness, understanding and a shared we look to upgrade parts of the current platform for mobilisation around rights and Charter in order to underscore that the human rights and principles contained principles for the internet. in this charter will provide a coherent Our flagship document, the Charter and necessary framework for developing internet governance principles at the IGF of Human Rights and Principles for the and beyond. Internet (http://internetrightsandprinciples. org/wpcharter) covers the whole gambit of human rights drawing on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights ” 2 What do we mean Who is the Charter by Human Rights & of Human Rights & Principles? Principles for the Internet Human rights are international human Addressing? rights as defined by international law. We have translated these directly to Human rights govern the relationship the internet with provisions such as between the State and the individual, freedom from blocking and filtering. so human rights obligations bind These can be identified by the use of states. The Charter is based on existing language such as “everyone has a right human rights and so in practice most to...” and “everyone has a freedom of its provisions will only be binding on to...”. By “Principles” we are talking the State. However there is a growing about those internet policy principles or recognition that the private sector does implementation principles that describe have obligations under human rights features of the system which are required law, as authoritatively outlined in the to support human rights, these can be UN “Protect, Respect and Remedy” identified by the use of language such as Framework. “shall” and “must”. What is the purpose of Charter of Human Rights & Principles for the Internet? The goal of the IRPC Charter is to provide a recognizable framework anchored in international human rights for upholding and advancing human rights for the online environment. This goal breaks down into three main objectives: To provide 1 a reference point for dialogue and cooperation between different stakeholder priorities for the internet’s design, access, and use around the world. 2 an authoritative document that can frame policy decisions and emerging rights-based norms for the local, national, and global dimensions of internet governance. 3 a policy-making and advocacy tool for governments, businesses, and civil society groups committed to developing rights-based principles for the internet. 3 Get “Involved The IRP Coalition is based in the Internet Governance Forum. It is open to anyone who wants to contribute to the work. You can find out more about the IRP Coalition at www. internetrightsandprinciples.org or through the Internet Governance Forum website at http:// www.intgovforum.org/cms/dynamiccoalitions/72- ibr. To get more directly involved you are welcome to: Î Join the IRP Mailing list, http://lists. internetrightsandprinciples.org/cgi-bin/ mailman/listinfo/irp. Î Join the IRP Facebook Group, www. facebook.com/internetrightsandprinciples Î Follow the IRP Coalition on Twitter, @netrights Î Contact the IRP Coalition Co-Chairs, or Steering Committee members Î Attend any of the Internet Governance meetings in your area, or take part by Remote Participation. Information about these events is available on the IGF website (http://www.intgovforum.org/cms/ igf-initiatives), the IRP Coalition website (www.internetrightsandprinciples.org), and Visit us online those of organizations who are part of the for more coalition. information internetrightsandprinciples.org” 4 How the IRPC Charter Came About 5 he idea of translating discussed and contributed to this drafting human rights for process at all stages. The final draft of governance of the the current version (Version 1.1) was internet emerged during opened for wider consultation within the second phase of the the IGF and by external commentators “ World Summit on the a few months after the first full draft Information Society and (Version 1.0) was released at the 2010 was widely endorsed at IGF meeting in Vilnius, Lithuania. At the Tunis Summit in 2005. Two coalitions this meeting a working party formed to Tformed at this time to undertake this condense the longer and legally complex task. The Internet Bill of Rights Dynamic charter into a more accessible format Coalition set out to develop a Charter for outreach, education, and advocacy. of Human Rights, and the Framework The outcome was the aptly titled “Ten of Principles for the Internet Dynamic Punchy Principles” which were launched Coalition that set out to focus on internet online and on the ground in 2011. A governance principles. “translatothon” saw the Ten Principles take shape in 21 different languages with By the third Internet Governance new translations being added all the time Forum meeting in 2008, held in (http://internetrightsandprinciples.org/site/ Hyderabad (India), a consensus campaign). had formed that these two projects, developing human rights and principles The IRPC Charter is a living for the internet, are intimately related: document. In the fast-changing certain principles must be upheld in environment of increasing awareness order to sustain an online environment that online we have rights too, the charter which supports human rights. In early has been a formative contribution to the 2009 these two coalitions merged to form emerging area of internet governance the Internet Rights and Principles (IRPC) principles. It has been a source of Dynamic Coalition in order to combine inspiration for rights-based initiatives their forces and resources within the from civil society, governments, and “multistakeholder participatory model” businesses committed to ensuring that that drives the IGF. The outcome of the online environment is also a place this online and offline “collabowriting” where human rights are sustained and exercise, open to all members of the protected. The 2011 report of the UN new coalition, was the Charter of Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Human Rights and Principles for the Expression, Frank La Rue, and the 2012 Internet. During 2009 and 2010 early landmark decision by the UN Human drafts of the charter were refined, and Rights Council on human rights and the vetted by a group of Human Rights internet have both affirmed the value of experts to ensure that the charter was the Charter. The Charter 2.0 phase looks compatible with international human to consolidate and promote this work to a rights standards. Coalition members wider public. ” 6 10 Internet Rights & Principles “ 7 he Internet offers