Hi all,

Very interesting conversation. I think it's important to note that
there are situations where users of the Internet can be beholden to a
single private sector actor - such as where only a single ISP is
operational in a particular region. Even where there is competition,
single actors can exercise enormous dominance. So traditional free
market solutions of just not using the service can be problematic,
given that that might mean having to stay off the Internet entirely.

It's not entirely unprecedented to apply human rights standards to the
private sector. In South Africa, for example, the right to information
applies to private sector actors if the information in question is
required for the exercise or protection of any rights. It was
interesting to note that, recently, Maina Kiai, UN Special Rapporteur
on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association,
called for a new treaty binding businesses to respect fundamental
human rights.

I think that there is a need for more conceptual work on the
applicability of human rights to the  private sector - and am actually
involved in a project at the moment to try and explore this issue
further.

Best wishes,

Michael Karanicolas
Senior Legal Officer
Centre for Law and Democracy

P.S. Just saw Ed's response - I certainly don't think ICANN should get
into regulating hate speech! I am speaking in terms of private sector
actors - like Facebook - who are already are quite deeply in that
business.


On Fri, Oct 2, 2015 at 7:18 AM, Niels ten Oever
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
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> Dear Viktor,
>
> I am not really convinced bu the argument that the Internet has (or
> should have) the same status as a night club. If any part of the
> Internet would simply drop packets because of the wrong header, we
> would simply route around it.
>
> Am also not sure if this is a sufficient mapping of human rights
> online, it seems that most things are described in relation to hate
> speech, whereas the is more to say, non-discrimination then what is
> described here, no? Take for instance algorithmic decision making.
>
> Also missed a discussion on Intermediary Liability in the document,
> does is align with the Manila Principles?
>
> Best,
>
> Niels
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On 10/02/2015 10:43 AM, Viktor Szabados wrote:
>> Hello Everybody,
>>
>> let me give also some input from my side, as consultant of the No
>> Hate Speech Movement of the Council of Europe. We have a quite good
>> summary of all the issues around human rights and Internet, in
>> particular linked to hate speech. We run besides the campaign
>> conferences, workshops and this guide is also for different
>> exercises around this topic. We can offer you inputs and knowledge
>> based on the expertise and experience of our campaign run since
>> 2012.
>>
>> An other good network of experts is around the Internet Rights and
>> Principles Coalition where I am also member of the board, see our
>> Charter also below. The Coalition gained also official observer
>> status at the Council of Europe’s Steering Committee on Media
>> Information and Society (CDMSI).
>>
>>
>> NHSM Council of Europe - No Hate Speech Movement
>> http://www.nohatespeechmovement.org Bookmarks p. 144-145 see
>> attached, full edition link below
>> http://nohate.ext.coe.int/Campaign-Tools-and-Materials/Bookmarks
>> http://nohate.ext.coe.int/content/download/38987/300906/file/Bookmarks
> _EN_online.pdf
>>
>>  Human rights and the Internet The Internet is mostly “owned” and
>> controlled by private companies. This makes the protection of human
>> rights more complicated, because human rights are really ‘rules for
>> governments’, not private companies. If a shopping mall or private
>> nightclub wants to forbid people from wearing jeans, protesting, or
>> distributing information about another company, all of which are
>> forms of ‘expression’, you cannot plead freedom of expression and
>> take them to the European Court of Human Rights! In the same way,
>> private companies can mostly set the rules that people must abide
>> by when using parts of the Internet owned by them. If people do not
>> like the rules, they can complain, but the ultimate sanction is
>> simply not to use the service. However, this does not mean that
>> those parts of the world which are owned by private companies,
>> including the Internet, are not regulated by human rights laws!
>> Human rights impose (at least) two different types of obligation on
>> governments: 1. They set limits on what governments are actively
>> allowed to do, for example, they are not allowed to ban all
>> political dissent, engage in torture, or deprive someone of their
>> liberty without proper reason. 2. They oblige governments to take
>> positive action to ensure that rights are properly protected. This
>> may mean passing laws which prohibit discrimination, making sure
>> that violent acts are prosecuted (and punished), or ensuring that
>> victims receive proper protection. ...
>>
>>
>> IRPC Internet Rights and Principles Coalition -
>> http://internetrightsandprinciples.org/ the charter of human rights
>> and principles for the internet
>> http://internetrightsandprinciples.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2014/08
> /IRPC_Booklet-English_4thedition.pdf
>>
>>  What do we mean by Human Rights & Principles? Human rights are
>> international human rights as defined by international law. We have
>> translated these directly to the internet with provisions such as
>> freedom from blocking and filtering. These can be identified by the
>> use of language such as “everyone has a right to...” and “everyone
>> has a freedom to...”. By “Principles” we are talking about those
>> internet policy principles or implementation principles that
>> describe features of the system which are required to support human
>> rights, these can be identified by the use of language such as
>> “shall” and “must”. ...
>>
>>
>> Happy to give more insight or connection if needed, just drop me a
>> line.
>>
>> thanks,your vik
>>
>> On 01/10/2015, Sam Lanfranco <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>> As we struggle to determine where and how human rights fit into
>>> what ICANN is and what it does, it might be useful to read the
>>> recent report to the UN General Assembly by the UN Special
>>> Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Philip Alston,
>>> submitted in accordance with Human Rights Council resolution
>>> 26/.
>>>
>>> It is short, 23 pages long, and has been used by others to
>>> describe the World Bank, in negative terms, as a "Human-Rights
>>> Free Zone". I would hate to see that label applied to ICANN.
>>>
>>> http://www.un.org/en/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/70/274
>>>
>>> Sam L.
>>>
>>> --
>>
>> Re: Human Rights@ICANN 54   Inbox Stephanie
>> Perrin<[log in to unmask]>     1 October 2015 at 17:32
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>>
>> Gac public safety committee, on Monday at 330 to 430 I believe
>> Stephanie
>>
>> On 2015-10-01 9:44, Marilia Maciel wrote: Dear NCSGers,
>>
>> Here is a compilation of ICANN sessions that are either about
>> human rights or that relate to Human Rights discussions. May be of
>> interest to this group.
>>
>> Please, take a look and see if you would have any
>> additions/deletions to make: http://bit.ly/1LSIbvQ
>>
>> Best wishes, Marília
>>
>
> - --
> Niels ten Oever
> Head of Digital
>
> Article 19
> www.article19.org
>
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