Freedom of Expression - Freedom of Connection

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Freedom of Connection – Freedom of Expression: The Changing Legal and Regulatory Ecology Shaping the Internet William H. Dutton Oxford Internet Institute (OII) University of Oxford Presentation for UNESCO Conference with Moroccan Internet Society on Freedom of Expression over the Internet, Marrakech, Morocco, 15 February 2013.

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Presentation of UNESCO report for UNESCO's Conference on Freedom of Expression on the Internet in Marrakesh, Morocco, with support from the Morocco Internet Society, 15 February 2013.

Transcript of Freedom of Expression - Freedom of Connection

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Freedom of Connection – Freedom of Expression: The Changing Legal and Regulatory Ecology Shaping the Internet

William H. Dutton

Oxford Internet Institute (OII)

University of Oxford

 

Presentation for UNESCO Conference with Moroccan Internet Society on Freedom of Expression over the Internet, Marrakech, Morocco, 15 February 2013.

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UNESCO Request to Critically Review Status of Research on Freedom of Expression:

• Some Pioneering Studies

• More Advocacy v Research

• Political Minefield (e.g., the McBride Commission 1977)

• Too Single-Issue Focused

Report Launch at UNESCO, Paris, 30 May 2011; Arabic trans. 2013.

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The Internet Reconfigures Access in Ways that Can Empower Networked Individuals

A Fifth Estate?

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Ecology of Choices Shaping Free Expression

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Balancing Digital Rights

• Access – Freedom of Connection

• Freedom of Expression• Censorship• Equality (media literacy)• Freedom of Information• Privacy & Data Protection

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Technical Innovations:Worldwide Diffusion of

Technologies of Connection

• Internet • World Wide Web• Mobile and Mobile

Internet

North America

Oceania / Australia

Europe Latin America / Caribbean

Middle East

Asia Africa0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

14% 1%

24%

10% 3%

42%

6%

266

21

475

205

63

825

111

77%

61%58%

35%30%

22%

11%

Percent of global Internet population

Number of Internet users (mio.)

Internet penetration within region%

Inte

rnet

use

rs

To

tal

nu

mb

er o

f In

tern

et u

sers

in

reg

ion

(m

io.)

Source: Internet World Stats - www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm. Penetration rates are based on a world population of 6,845,609,960 and 1,966,514,816 estimated Internet users for June 30, 2010.

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Percentage of Internet Users Across Regions of the World

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Regions as Percentage of the Worldwide Population of Users

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Number and Proportion of Internet Users by Region

Source: Internet World Stats- www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm. Penetration rates are based on a world population of 6,930,055,154 and 2,267,233,742 estimated Internet users for December 31, 2011.

North America Oceania/Australia Europe Latin America/Carib.Middle East Asia Africa0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

12%

1%

22%

10%

3%

45%

6%

273

24

501

236

77

1017

139

79%

68%

61%

40%

36%

26%

14%

Percentage of global Internet population Number of Internet Users (mio.)Internet penetration within region

% o

f In

tern

et u

sers

To

tal

nu

mb

er o

f In

tern

et u

sers

(M

il.)

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Technical Innovations: Technologies of Disconnection

Meta-analysis of Internet filtering surveys:

• Global growth of filtering (and increasing worldwide)

• No single country

• Variety of Objectives:

• Political • Moral• Commercial

BUT: Potential to Decentralize, e.g., Home Hubs

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Industrial Policy and Regulation

• Technology-led Industrial Strategies, support economic growth• ICT for Development (ICT4D)• Competition Policy

• IPR: Copyright • IPR: Patents

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Industrial Policy and Regulation

Copyright enforcement:

• ‘Three Strikes’ policy in France• Digital Economy Act (UK)• Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA)

Countered by:• The Pirate Party• Brazilian Copyright Reform Bill

Copyright Mot

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User-Centric Policy• Child Protection Policy• Decency: Pornography• Libel: Defamation • Prevention of Hate Speech• Consumer Protection: Fraud• Section 127 of the UK Com

Act 2003 – electronic com that is ‘grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character; …’

Copyright Mugley

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Internet Policy• Internet Governance and Regulation (Multi-stakeholder Approach)• Domain Names and Numbers• Net Neutrality• Licensing, Regulation of Service Providers: Intermediaries• Internationalised Top-level Domain Names

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Internet Policy:Standard-setting: Identity, Anonymity, Real Name

Registration

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Security

• Secrecy, Confidentiality• Security against Malware• Counter-Radicalisation• National Security

– Blackberry Use– WikiLeaks: Confidentiality-Security– UK Data Communications Act

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Ecology of Choices Shaping Free Expression

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Encouraging Themes for Freedom of Expression

• Internet Empowering Networked Individuals – Enhancing Freedom of Connection and Expression (5th Estate)

• Major Issues of Human Rights are Increasingly Being Centered on the Internet and Web

• The Internet Space is not the ‘Wild West’ – much regulation exists

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Countervailing Themes

• Freedom of Expression is not an Inevitable Outcome of Technological Innovation

• Continuing Global and Local Digital Divides in Access and the Production of Content

• Global Increase in Content Filtering and Censorship

• Freedom Shaped by Choices in the Wider Ecology of Actors, Objectives and Policies

• Use of Inappropriate Models for Internet Governance and Regulation threatens to Foster ‘Over-Regulation’, e.g., fear or complacency of the ‘Old Internet World’

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Directions for Policy

• Reduce Digital Divides • Broaden Perspectives on Freedom of Expression

– the Larger Legal and Regulatory Ecology

− ways to democratize content control• Renew and Inform Debates over:

– Appropriate Regulatory Models for the Internet– Global and Local Approaches to Internet Governance– Ways to Inform the Public and Elected Officials about

the Internet and Legal-Regulatory Issues

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Renew Research on Freedom of Expression

• More Systematic and Sustained Monitoring of Innovations in, and Use of, Internet Filtering

• Need to Track an Expanded Range of Policies and Regulatory Issues in this Ecology

• Critically Explore Relationships between Freedom of Expression and other Core Values and Rights

• Study Impacts on the Ground, including Public Beliefs, Attitudes, and Behavior

• Understand Assaults on Freedom of Expression as efforts to protect other Values and Interests