UNESCO to launch the “Freedom of Connection – Freedom of Expression: The Changing Legal and Regulatory Ecology Shaping the Internet” report at the Fifth Internet Governance Forum (IGF) meeting in Vilnius, Lithuania
06-09-2010 (Paris)
UNESCO will organize, for the fifth year, workshops at IGF 2010 (14-17 September 2010) with the aim to spark off international debate on freedom of expression in cyberspace. UNESCO would also take this opportunity to release an in-depth analysis and report entitled “Freedom of Connection – Freedom of Expression: The Changing Legal and Regulatory Ecology Shaping the Internet” conducted by the Oxford Internet Institute.
The research was supported by UNESCO within the framework of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), and as part of UNESCO’s activities related to Internet Governance. It aims to provide a reference tool that can inform and stimulate the debate on current global trends that are shaping freedom of expression on the Internet.
This report provides a new perspective on the social and political dynamics behind these global forces and threat to freedom of expression. It advances a conceptual framework on the ‘ecology of freedom of expression’ to enable the inclusion of a broader policy and practice discussion. This framework contains original synthesis of empirical research and case studies of selected technical, legal and regulatory trends including developments in six inter-related areas with focus on:
1. technical initiatives, related to connection and disconnection, such as content filtering;
2. digital rights, including those tied directly to freedom of expression and censorship, but also indirectly, through freedom of information, and privacy and data protection;
3. industrial policy and regulation, including copyright and intellectual property, industrial strategies, and ICTs for development;
4. users issues, focusing on fraud, child protection, decency, libel and control of hate speech;
5. network policy and practices, including standards, identity and regulation of Internet Service Providers; and
6. security issues, ranging from controlling spam and viruses to protecting national security.
This publication makes clear, freedom of expression is not just a by-product of technical change and it must be protected by legal and regulatory measures that balance a variety of potentially conflicting values and interests in a complex global ecology of choices. UNESCO seeks to obtain feedback on the draft from a wide range of stakeholders through this release prior to an official publication at the end of 2010.
The workshop will take place at Room 6, Lithuanian Exhibition Centre LITEXPO, Vilnius, 11.30a.m. -1.30p.m, 14 September 2010. Mr Jānis Kārkliņš, the Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information at UNESCO will chair the meeting. The speakers include:
Prof. William Dutton, Director, Oxford Internet Institute (OII), University of Oxford
Dr Victoria Nash, Policy and Research Fellow, Oxford Internet Institute (OII), University of Oxford
Dr Yaman Akdeniz , Associate Professor of Law, Istanbul Bilgi University, Turkey
Mr Nicklas Lundblad, senior policy counsel and head of public policy for Google in Mountain View
The workshop welcomes remote participation through accessing IGF website.
The program and agenda of this workshop is available on IGF website.
The draft report “Freedom of Connection – Freedom of Expression: The Changing Legal and Regulatory Ecology Shaping the Internet” is avaiable here.
This report provides a new perspective on the social and political dynamics behind these global forces and threat to freedom of expression. It advances a conceptual framework on the ‘ecology of freedom of expression’ to enable the inclusion of a broader policy and practice discussion. This framework contains original synthesis of empirical research and case studies of selected technical, legal and regulatory trends including developments in six inter-related areas with focus on:
1. technical initiatives, related to connection and disconnection, such as content filtering;
2. digital rights, including those tied directly to freedom of expression and censorship, but also indirectly, through freedom of information, and privacy and data protection;
3. industrial policy and regulation, including copyright and intellectual property, industrial strategies, and ICTs for development;
4. users issues, focusing on fraud, child protection, decency, libel and control of hate speech;
5. network policy and practices, including standards, identity and regulation of Internet Service Providers; and
6. security issues, ranging from controlling spam and viruses to protecting national security.
This publication makes clear, freedom of expression is not just a by-product of technical change and it must be protected by legal and regulatory measures that balance a variety of potentially conflicting values and interests in a complex global ecology of choices. UNESCO seeks to obtain feedback on the draft from a wide range of stakeholders through this release prior to an official publication at the end of 2010.
The workshop will take place at Room 6, Lithuanian Exhibition Centre LITEXPO, Vilnius, 11.30a.m. -1.30p.m, 14 September 2010. Mr Jānis Kārkliņš, the Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information at UNESCO will chair the meeting. The speakers include:
The workshop welcomes remote participation through accessing IGF website.
The program and agenda of this workshop is available on IGF website.
The draft report “Freedom of Connection – Freedom of Expression: The Changing Legal and Regulatory Ecology Shaping the Internet” is avaiable here.
Related themes/countries
· Lithuania
· UNESCO and WSIS
· Freedom of Expression
· Internet Governance
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