Advancing Internet Policy in the Digital Age:

Best Practices & Lessons Learned

Created by:Jillian C. York

Electronic Frontier Foundation

Meet your trainer:

Jillian York, Electronic Frontier Foundation

jillian@eff.org

Working definition of Internet governance:

“Internet governance is the development and application by Governments, the private sector, and civil society, in their respective roles, of shared principles, norms, rules, decision-making procedures, and programmes that shape the evolution and use of the Internet.”

Source: WSIS

Internet Governance (IG)

What does IG cover?

• Internet infrastructure and standardisation• Technical standards (e.g., IP, DNS)• Safety/integrity (e.g., spam, security)• Legal issues (e.g., privacy, copyright, cybercrime)• Economic issues (e.g., taxation)• Access issues• Socio-cultural issues (e.g., free expression)

International Governance:A Brief History

• Late 1960s: US develops DARPA, TCP/IP• First regulation: Internet Engineering

Task Force (IETF)• Mid-’90s: “DNS War” as private

companies get involved• 1998: Establishment of ICANN to

regulate domains• 2003: First World Summit on the

Information Society (WSIS) in Geneva

A Brief History, continued

• 2005: Second WSIS in Tunis brought about conflict

• 2006: First Internet Governance Forum (IGF) promoting multistakeholderism in Internet governance

• Since 2006: Greater international developments in IGF, ICANN, other for a

• 2013: “WSIS+10” in February 2013

ICANN: Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers

What does it do?

• Coordinates the Internet protocol address spaces (IPv4 and IPv6)

• Assigns address blocks to regional Internet registries (e.g., .uk, .eg)

• Manages top-level domain name space (e.g., .com, .net)

ICANN, continued

• Non-profit, private org based in the United States

• Open process of decision-making

IANA: Internet Assigned Numbers Authority

• Subordinate to ICANN, contracted to the US Department of Commerce

• In charge of numbers, IP addresses

The UN

• UN involvement: The IGF vs. the ITU• Internet Governance Forum (IGF):

Multistakeholderism• International Telecommunication

Union (ITU): Governments

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Article 19:

“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.”

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)

Article 19

1. Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference

2. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice.

3. The exercise of the rights provided for in paragraph 2 of this article carries with it special duties and responsibilities. It may therefore be subject to certain restrictions, but these shall only be such as are provided by law and are necessary:

a) For the respect of the rights or reputations of others;b) For the protection of national security or of public order (ordre

public) or of public health or morals.

Introduction to Content Control

Content Control

What types of content are commonly controlled online?

• Political speech• Obscene content• Social issues, human rights information• “Hate speech,” blasphemy• Threats to national security• Intellectual property

Technical Controls

Technical mechanisms of control:• IP blocking• DNS poisoning• Keyword filtering• URL blocking• Deep packet inspection• Attacks (DDoS, malware)

Content Control: A Global Overview

Source: Reporters Without Borders, 2012

Qatar: Transparency in Censorship

Legal Controls

• Copyright-related restrictions– Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)– International treaties (e.g., ACTA, TPP)– “Three-strikes” laws (e.g., HADOPI)

• Defamation, Libel, and Lese Majesty– Criminal (e.g., Thailand)– Civil (e.g., UK, Turkey)– Blocking of websites (e.g., India,

Palestine)

Legal Controls

• Obscenity, hate speech– Dozens of countries place restrictions on

certain types of speech– Some restrictions justified under ICCPR.

• Intermediary liability– Intermediaries are often held responsible

for the content they host.– Very few countries provide liability

protections for intermediaries

Regulation by companies

• Private companies have increasing power over content

• Governments frequently enact pressure on companies to restrict content or hand over user data

Regulation by companies, cont’d

• Companies are subject to laws in the jurisdictions in which they work

• Privacy and speech laws vary widely by jurisdiction, presenting challenges for companies

• 2004: Shi Tao and Yahoo!

The quasi-public sphere: challenges

• Intermediaries have the right to restrict speech and make their own regulations

• Many companies go beyond the First Amendment (US) or Article 19 in regulating speech

Case: No ‘Palestinian’ pages

Case: Facebook’s “real name” policy

Case: No Appeals

• “Unfortunately, we won’t be able to reactivate your account or respond to your email directly. This decision is final and cannot be appealed.”

• Change in 2011: Appeals system introduced after repeated pressure on Facebook.

What is being done to protect speech on private platforms?

• Global Network Initiative• Who Has Your Back?• Individual advocacy

Global Network Initiative

• Founded in 2008• Yahoo!, Google, Microsoft founding

members• Multistakeholder• Seeks to safeguard freedom of

speech and privacy against government restrictions

Other efforts: “Who has your back?”

Day 2: User Rights & Safety

Domestic Internet Governance

• What are some principles for protecting user rights?

• How does Palestine compare to the rest of the world?

Your Security

• Review of risk assessment principles

What program should I use to:• Email?• Chat?• Text message?• Voice chat?

Your Site’s Security

• Where should I host my site?• How can I mirror my site?• How do I backup my site?• What else do I need to know?