Today, our information ecosystem faces dramatic change and challenges. On 14 October, Anna Oosterlinck, ARTICLE 19’s Senior Advisor on Global Advocacy, intervened at the UN’s WSIS+20 Virtual Stakeholder Consultations – a unique opportunity for representatives from governments, the tech community, civil society, and academia to exchange views on the zero draft of the Outcome Document at a pivotal moment in the review process.
For the first time in the 20 years since the launch of WSIS, through this draft, proposals are underway to explicitly anchor the WSIS framework in international human rights law, underlining that the world needs human rights-based digital governance now more than ever.
As part of our written submission to the process, ARTICLE 19 proposed ways to further strengthen human rights safeguards, all based on existing Member States’ obligations and commitments. Due to our consistent advocacy, some of these proposals have been adopted by coalitions, comprising of civil society partners and other stakeholders from the technical and academic communities. These proposals include:
- Refraining from or cease using digital technologies that are fundamentally incompatible with international human rights law, and strengthening human rights safeguards for digital public infrastructure; data governance; and AI governance.
- All human rights need to be protected across the full lifecycle, from pre-conceptualisation to trade and transfer, of all digital technologies – with gender equality and digital inclusion underpinning all efforts.
- Affirm universal and meaningful connectivity as an essential enabler to enjoy all human rights.
- Underline the importance of free, independent, plural and diverse media so our democracies can survive and thrive, with strong protections for encryption and anonymity so journalists and human rights defenders can work safely.
- Addressing the unprecedented concentration of power in digital markets, as a handful of companies now disproportionately control and shape our digital economy, with a significant impact on our ability to exercise our rights to speak and to know.
ARTICLE 19 will continue its years-long advocacy efforts throughout the WSIS+20 review process. We will follow the upcoming negotiations by Member States on the zero draft of the outcome document, working behind the scenes to further our advocacy priorities.