From Irc

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We have moved the drafting to Google-Docs

we want to produce a nice 0.8 version for the IGF so please work on:

Section I (no new edits, still needs consolidation for FoE, A2K, Privacy) https://docs.google.com/Doc?id=ajcs86p9dx2s_488rpfcbcc

Section II (below are some paragraphs I took out or have questions about) https://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AeybA8_Lt-gwYWpjczg2cDlkeDJzXzI5ZnJ0dnR0YzM&hl

Welcome

• You are very welcome to contribute your ideas and refine the language (we are especially interested in using language from WSIS and similar documents)

• Please comment and explain changes you have made to the text on our mailing list http://lists.apc.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/rights

• We use the following color coding:

 black text is new draft text - so you can just type and edit
 <font color="blue">blue text is from the 2006 version of the charter (with slight amendments)</font>
 <font color="green">green text is from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and was included in the text we agreed to use in the 2009 version</font>

Preface

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), negotiated and affirmed by governments of the United Nations, stands as our common commitment to uphold and protect fundamental human rights, the dignity and worth of the human person and the equal rights of men and women. States have an obligation to uphold and advance these rights. This includes an obligation to protect people from violations by third parties. While human rights laws are not directly binding on individuals and businesses, individuals and organs of society do have a responsibility to respect human rights. Human rights are balanced with responsibilities: the individual has to respect others and their rights.

This Charter builds on the WSIS Declaration of Principles, which recognizes that information communication technologies (ICTs) present tremendous opportunities to enable individuals, communities and peoples to achieve their full potential in promoting their sustainable development and improving their quality of life. Like the WSIS Declaration this Charter aims at building a people-centred information society which respects and upholds fundamental human rights that are enshrined in the UDHR.

To realize these goals it is pivotal that governments, companies, and individuals hold the public interest and human rights as criteria for decision-making in internet governance.

The internet is the emerging foundation of global communication, with other communications media, from broadcast to mobile phones, gradually converging around internet-based networks. The internet is also a globally interconnected resource: actions taken by users, businesses, or governments in one country shape the nature and function of the network for everybody all over the world. Internet Governance thus comprises setting global technical standards, and passing local, national and international laws that regulate the use or deployment of the internet and related ICTs. It is therefore appropriate that the internet should be governed by a truly international, inclusive multi-stakeholder process bringing together public administrations, governments, civil society as well as businesses as equal participants.

To this end, this Charter of Human Rights and Principles on the Internet is developed through an open, inclusive and multi-stakeholder process, premised upon the rights as agreed upon and laid out under the UDHR.

The following rights and principles are held as critical common criteria to uphold and protect human rights on the Internet, and to ensure that the internet continues to evolve in a way that supports and expands these rights.

Edit: Jac - done; Shaila 2009.10.08; Rebecca rmack - done; Max

Preamble

• The preamble needs to be inspirational - cf Preamble to the Universal Declaration

Edit: Robert P 2009.10.12

Section I

Articles 1-2 - Dignity & Inclusiveness

Article 1 - Freedom, Equality & Dignity

<font color="green"> All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. </font>

Article 2 - Universality of Rights

<font color="green"> Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty. </font>

• Access to the internet can help create more egalitarian societies, and providing access should be a key public policy. However, all stakeholders should be aware of the internet’s potential to reinforce existing inequality, such as access gaps along race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and community type (rural, urban) lines (WSIS §10).

• The public provision of internet services should be equal for all, with no discrimination on the basis of geography, sex, ethnicity, religion, gender, socio-economic capabilities, or physical ability (WSIS §13).

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You can find more detailed information, as well as links to resources and to communities of interest on the Article 1 & 2 Background page

Edited by: Lauren, Max

Articles 3-5 - Rights to Life, Liberty and Security

Article 3 - Life, Liberty and Security of Person

<font color="green"> Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person. </font>

• Steps should be taken to protect the liberty and security of people online. This encompasses issues such as identity theft, phishing for personal data and the abuse of children.

• Any measures taken to protect liberty and security online should not limit the ability of the internet to support other human rights such as free expression, privacy and association, or the ability of individuals to enjoy these rights. Any security measures that encroach on other human rights should be consistent with international human rights laws and standards, the rule of law and be necessary and proportionate for the relevant purpose.

Edit: Shaila 2009.10.06

Article 4 - Threat to Human Rights

<font color="green"> No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms. </font>

• Steps should be taken to prevent the use of the internet for human trafficking and other associated illegal activity.

• Actively plan to shut down sites that use the internet to conduct such illegal endeavors.

• Internet be used as a resource and a tool to enable the exposure of such perpetrators.

• Activate preventative measures be taken to train and educate key professionals for the rescue and protection of victims.

• Use the internet as a medium to educate protect and inform the public on such practices.

• Internet be used a vehicle to offer information to those who are victims of such practices.

Edit: Shaila 2009.10.19

Article 5 - Torture

<font color="green"> No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. </font>

• While most rules of decency and good manners hold also for online social interaction, the global and timeless reach of statements made online request special care and the development and mainstreaming of eduction of standardized net etiquette (netiquette), which allows individuals to understand the private or public context, as well as the limits of freedom of expression when it comes to Online bullying, slander and other forms of psychological maltreatment.

• All instances of media-recordings of illegal activities, esp. when it comes to sexual abuse, have to be reported to specialized internet policemen, who in turn start a proper investigation and legal prosecution of the perpetrator.

• People suspected or accused of illegal behavior have the right to be tried in a court of law in adherence with international human rights standards. Guilt and innocence cannot be fairly decided in online public fora or social networking services.

Article 11 - Presumption of innocence

<font color="green"> (1) Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.

(2) No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was committed. </font>

• Right to recourse when rights are violated.

• Cannot be arrested for engaging in activities on the internet that are legal according to national law and human rights law.

• IT companies must handle user data and communications in such a way that upholds and protects users' rights outlined above.

• Service providers must avoid business practices that facilitate violation of any of the above rights.

Article 12 - Privacy

<font color="green"> No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks. </font>

<font color="blue">

• Personal data must be protected. Public or private organisations that require personal information from individuals must collect only the minimal data necessary and for the minimal period of time needed. They must only process data for the minimal stated purposes. Collection, use, disclosure and retention of this information must comply with a transparent privacy policy which allows people to find out what is collected about them and to correct inaccurate information. Data collected must be protected from unauthorised disclosure and security errors should be rectified without delay. Data must be deleted when it is no longer necessary for the purposes for which it was collected. The public must be warned about the potential for misuse of data supplied. Organisations have a responsibility to notify people when the information has been abused, lost, or stolen.

</font>

• Private or public organisations or companies, civil society organisations as well as governmental bodies must comply to transparency requirements regarding privacy practices and governance structures and international privacy standards.

• Personal data must be protected. People must be free and able to exercise control and informed decision-making over their personal data and information.

<font color="blue">

• People must be free to communicate without surveillance or interception. People should be able to communicate free of the threat of surveillance and interception.

</font>

• People must be free to communicate without arbitrary surveillance or interception, or the threat of surveillance or interception. This includes the use of technologies such as deep packet inspection and in the exercise of control over individuals such as in instances of domestic violence and cyberstalking.

<font color="blue">

• People must be free to use encryption. People communicating on the internet must have the right to use tools which encode messages to ensure secure, private and anonymous communication.

</font>

• People should be able to communicate anonymously on the internet, for example through using encryption.

• Public or private organisations or companies, including social networks and service providers, which require personal information from individuals must collect only the minimum data necessary and for the minimum period of time needed. The data must be processed only for the minimal stated purposes. Collection, use, storage, disclosure and retention of this information must adhere to international privacy standards, and comply with a transparent privacy policy that includes full knowledge and consent by the individual about the content, purposes, storage location, duration and mechanisms for access, retrieval and correction of their personal data. Privacy policies and regulation should allow people to access and retrieve their collected personal data and to correct inaccurate information. Data collected must be protected from unauthorized disclosure, and security errors must be rectified without delay. Data must be deleted when it is no longer necessary for the purposes for which it was collected. The public must be warned about the potential for misuse of data supplied. Organisations or companies have a responsibility to notify people when the information has been abused, lost, or stolen.

• Service providers have a responsibility to make clear in which legal jurisdiction(s) the user's data is being hosted, so that the user can make informed decisions.

• Service providers must communicate clearly with users the circumstances under which personal data will be shared with governments and/or with other private entities.

• An individual should have the possibility: a) to obtain from a behavioral tracker, or otherwise, confirmation of whether or not the behavioral tracker has data relating to him; b) to have communicated to him data relating to him within a reasonable time; at a charge, if any, that is not excessive; in a reasonable manner; and in a form that is readily intelligible to him; c) to be given reasons if a request made under subparagraphs (a) and (b) is denied, and to be able to challenge such denial; and d) to challenge data relating to him and, if the challenge is successful, to have the data erased, rectified, completed or amended [From Slightly amended from | Online Behavioral Tracking and Targeting Concerns and Solutions]

• People must be free to communicate anonymously on the internet, such as through the use of encryption. People communicating on the internet must have the right to use tools which encode messages to ensure secure, private and anonymous communication, in so far as it does not violate the right to privacy of other individuals.

• There must be adequate protection of the law against violation of the right to privacy on the internet, whether perpetrated by an individual, communities or social networks, companies, international organizations or the State.

• The right to privacy on the internet also comprises the right to informational self-determination or “the right of the individual to decide what information about himself should be communicated to others and under what circumstances” (Westin, Westin, A., Privacy and Freedom, 1970).

• The right to privacy is a human right and is essential for free and self-determined human development in the knowledge society.
  • Respect for privacy allows for both participation and detachment in regard to social activities and opportunities. Every person must have the right to decide freely whether and in what manner he/she wants to receive information and communicate with others. The possibility of receiving information anonymously, irrespective of the source, must be ensured for everyone.
  • The power of the private sector and of governments over information increases the risk of manipulative access and surveillance and must be kept to a legally legitimized minimum. The collection, analysis and release of personal data – no matter by whom - should remain under the control of the individual concerned. (from: Charter of Civil Rights for a Sustainable Knowledge Society Version 3.0, online: http://www.worldsummit2003.de/download_de/Charta-Flyer-english.pdf)

• In the information society the right to privacy has to be supported by a guarantee (or principle) of confidentiality and integrity of IT-Systems, providing the protection against others accessing IT-Systems without consent.

Background Information on Article 12

Edit: Jac, Rebecca, Max, Jan

Article 13 - Freedom of movement

<font color="green"> (1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.

(2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country. </font>

• Freedom of movement on the internet: users should be able to access public content, irrespective of their geographical location. [alternatively: Everyone has the right to move freely, as well as to reside and use services offered on publicly accessible IPs and URLS.]

Article 17 - Right to own property

<font color="green"> (1) Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.

(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property. </font>

• The hardware and tools of communication cannot be arbitrarily confiscated.

Edit: Robert 2009.10.08

Article 18 - Freedom of belief

<font color="green"> Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance. </font>

• The expression of beliefs on the internet should not be restricted.

• The beliefs of others should be respected.

Edit: jac 2009.10.08

Article 19 - Freedom of expression

<font color="green"> Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers. </font>

• Content that is legal should not be censored or filtered .

• People should have access to any content that has been made public.

• Restrictions should not be placed on the ability of people to publish legal content.

• Gatekeepers should be transparent.

• Access to information – public information should be made available online.

• The public service value of the internet should be protected, including access to quality, diverse information and cultural content.

• Efforts should be made to break down barriers that prevent the sharing of public information and ideas, for example through language translation tools and accessibility tools and standards to facilitate equal participation of people with disabilities.

• Private businesses, civil society organisations as well as governmental bodies should comply to transparency requirements regarding freedom of expression practices and governance structures.

• Platform providers for user generated content (and social media services in general) should provide user driven governance structures to flag, deliberate and take decisions about freedom of expression and privacy aspects and the appropriateness of content. Thus exemption of liability for the third party's content hosted on Internet Service Providers sites and a transparent notice & take-down mechanism are the tools to preserve user generated content free from any form of censorship.

• Content should only be censored or filtered under the most narrowly defined circumstances based on internationally recognized laws or standards. These restrictions should be consistent with international human rights laws and standards, the rule of law and be necessary and proportionate for the relevant purpose.

• Criteria for any filtering or censorship can only be considered legitimate if developed in a publicly accountable and transparent manner, and carried out in a manner that is also publicly auditable and accountable.

• Service providers compelled by governments to implement censorship or filtering must fully inform users of the censorship criteria being used, and specify the relevant laws and regulations requiring it. A clear and user-friendly appeals mechanism must be included so that users can appeal to the service provider and government if she feels that her content was illegally or accidentally censored.

"Communication is a fundamental social process, a basic human need and the foundation of all social organization. It is central to the Information Society." (WSIS DOP, para 4)

<font color="blue">

• The right to freedom of expression must be protected. Freedom of expression should be protected from infringement by government and non-state actors. The internet is a medium for both public and private exchange of views and information across a variety of frontiers. Individuals must be able to express opinions and ideas, and share information freely when using the internet.

• The internet must not be censored, in line with human rights law. The internet must be protected from all attempts to silence critical voices and to censor social and political content or debate.

• People must not be prevented from using the internet to organise, collaborate and protest. Organisations, communities and individuals should be free to use the internet to organise and engage in protest.

</font>

• All people should have access to the internet as it is emerging as a global communication platform, necessary for public participation.

Background Information on Article 19

Edit: jac 2009.10.08; Emily 2009.10.09

Article 20 - Freedom of assembly

<font color="green"> (1) Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.

(2) No one may be compelled to belong to an association. </font>

• Online protest

• The users of information and communication technologies, services and platforms must be allowed to form, join, meet or visit as an assembly or association. Such ICT tools include, inter alia, mobile phone text messaging, the use of social networking websites, email, blogs, and message boards. In other words, access to assemblies and associations using ICTs shall not be blocked or filtered unless it is prescribed by law.

• Especially the protection of workers and workers' rights must be upheld and developed further in the electronic network work environment. The protection of human dignity, free personal development, and equality are individual free rights of great importance in the work environment. A necessary prerequisite for realising these rights for employees is the right to form coalitions, including the right to promote one's own interests and gather in freely elected organs of representation.

Article 20 Background Information

Edit: Emily 2009.10.09

Article 21 - Participation in government

<font color="green"> (1) Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his/her country, directly or through freely chosen representatives. In addition, everyone has the right to be heard by the government through participation in sub-committees, task forces and or value based community groups created for this specific purpose.

(2) Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his country.

(3) The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures. </font>

• Online voting bears the potential to enable a more participatory democracy with political decisions are debated and taken with more engagement by more people. Nevertheless, before online voting can be mainstreamed in official elections it must be secure.

• While the internet will be more and more ubiquitous it remains important that information and participation mechanisms are accessible to all people, both online and offline. Unless and until 100% internet connectivity combined with high levels of digital literacy are achieved, adequate and meaningful offline mechanisms for participation in government and politics are essential to avoid discrimination and exclusion.

Edit: Shaila 2009.10.09

Article 25 - Health & wellbeing

<font color="green"> (1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.

(2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection. </font>

• The potential of ICTs to expand access to social services, to improve livelihoods and enhance medical care should be harnessed and built upon. Given the centrality of the internet in modern economies, this is likely to include providing public access to the internet.

• The energy consumption of internet technology is to be minimized and all technical equipment needs to be sold only if a sustainable solution in terms of recycling or adequate disposal is provided.

Article 26 - Education

<font color="green"> (1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.

(2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.

(3) Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children. </font>

• Education should include raising awareness about human rights (online and offline) as the basis and constraint for individual freedom, all social interaction and self-realization.

• Media/communications literacy should be a key component of education. Hence education should include training opportunities for people to develop the skills necessary in order to innovate and develop technologies and tools to meet their needs. Also when planing and implementing virtual learning environments and other sorts of multimedia learning and teaching platforms should take into account local and regional variations in terms of pedagogy and knowledge-traditions.

• The opportunities that ICTs present for enhancing access and quality of education should be harnessed and built upon. For example intellectual property rights should not restrict access to educational content.

• Programs designed for capacity-building, literacy, and general knowledge that are specific to ICTs or the Internet should take account of Article 2 (above) whereby education is about educating the whole person in terms of broadening horizons and not reducing education to narrow notions of work-skills.

Edit: Marianne, 2009.10.12

Article 27 - Cultural participation & interests

<font color="green"> (1) Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.

(2) Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author. </font>

• Restrictions should not be placed on cultural expression and activities online.

• The licensing of content should permit knowledge to be created, shared, used and built upon, for example through flexible or creative commons licensing.

• Creators should be adequately remunerated and acknowledged for their work in ways that do not restrict innovation or access to public, educational knowledge and resources.

• People should be able to create and access information in their mother tongue.

• Cultural and linguistic diversity on the internet should be encouraged; as not only text but also as image, sound

• The viability of non-digital and pre-existing forms of cultural and linguistic diversity should also be preserved

• Diverse generations of user interfaces and respective sorts of content that have become established should not be rendered unusable by default i.e. through forms of inbuilt obsolescence in successive products and services

• The internet itself should represent a diversity of cultures and languages in terms of appearance and functionality

• Technological evolutions should become occasions on which the promotion of diversity on the Internet is further enhanced, rather than delayed or stalled. It is the responsibility of institutions formulating global, regional or national policies regarding the technological development of the Internet to ensure this during the policy development process.

• Any policy should be technology-neutral, i.e. there should not be any curtailment of rights that people were able to exercise under previous technology regimes. In the case of online publication of scientific, literary or artistic production, the protection of the interests of the author should remain restricted by exceptions and limitations that have been agreed internationally and such exceptions and limitations should be interpreted in the broadest sense possible, rather than narrowing their interpretations. Public interest should continue to override the rights of the author, as was earlier stipulated in the Doha Declaration. The WSIS Declaration of Principles, paragraph 39 states: "The rule of law, accompanied by a supportive, transparent, pro-competitive, technologically neutral and predictable policy and regulatory framework reflecting national realities, is essential for building a people-centred Information Society".

• Developing countries should be granted additional time to put into practice any commitments they have made under TRIPS, as agreed in the treaty.

• The medium of the internet should be used to disseminate the results of publicly funded research to as widely an audience as possible.

Background Information on Article 27

Edit: Shaila 2009.10.06; Marianne, 2009.10.12; Anja, 2009.10.16

Article 28 - Social and international order

<font color="green"> Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized. </font>

• The internet and converging communications environment should be governed in such a way as to ensure that it upholds and expands human rights to the fullest extent possible.

• The social and international order set forth above should enshrine principles of multilinguism, pluralism, and heterogenous forms of (cosmopolitan?) cultural life in both form and substance; by form this includes design features of defaults and interfaces; by substance this includes non-exclusive spaces for interaction, debate, and consensus-building

• Dissent and the right to disagree should be an integral part of this environment; the desire or wish not to access or use the internet should not lead to disenfranchisement

• The interests of all those who would be affected by a policy or decision should be represented in the governance processes that lead to these outcomes. A full and effective participation of developing countries and disadvantaged groups in global,regional and national decision-making should be ensured.

Background information Article 28

Edit: Marianne, 2009.10.12; Anja, 2009.10.16

Article 29 - Duties & responsibilities

<font color="green"> (1) Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of personality is possible.

(2) In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.

(3) These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations. </font>

• All stakeholders on the internet have duties and responsibilities as well as rights. This includes respect for the rights of others in the online environment.

• Power holders should exercise their power responsibility, never violating human rights and expanding them wherever possible.

• Any restrictions of rights on the internet should be strictly necessary according to law, proportionate and limited to addressing the specific issue at hand.

Background Article 29

Edit: Shaila 10-16-09

Article 30 -

<font color="green"> Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein. </font>

Section II: Internet Governance

• See Charter of Human Rights and Principles on the Internet/Section II

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