Internet Democracy Project

The Internet Democracy Project has joined forces with organisations from around the world to request the ITU’s leadership to ensure greater transparency and openness of the ITU Plenipotentiary, which will take place in Busan, South Korea, from 20 October to 7 November 2014. The letter was addressed, and delivered, to Secretary General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Dr. Hamadoun Touré, and Deputy Secretary-General of the ITU, Mr Houlin Zhao. The full list of signatories can be found here. The text of the letter is reproduced below.    More

In 2015, an Overall Review of the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society — held in two phases in 2003 (Geneva) and 2005 (Tunis) — will take place. What exactly will this WSIS+10 Review address, and why is it of importance for ongoing Internet governance debates? On 3 August 2014, Anja Kovacs addressed the Asia-Pacific Internet Leadership Program to explain just this. Watch the video below to learn more.    More

The Internet Democracy Project has joined forces with a range of civil society organisations and individuals from across the world to release, during the Internet Governance Forum, the following statement on the Internet Governance Forum, related processes and human rights and development. The complete list of signatories to the statement can be found here.   More

In the eyes of many observers, India is one of a handful of countries that are in a position to swing the outcome of the internet governance debates. It is of importance, therefore, to understand in greater depth the stances that the Government of India is likely to take in the many important Internet governance meetings and events that will take place in the remainder of 2014 and in 2015, and how they can be engaged constructively. This short paper outlines and examines these positions, taking as its starting point India’s participation in NETmundial – Global Multistakeholder Meeting on the Future of Internet Governance, which took place in São Paulo, Brazil, on 23 and 24 April 2014. It was first published in Kaspar, Lea (ed.) (2014). NETmundial: Reflections from Brazil, India and Kenya. London: Global Partners.    More

In a previous post, Anja Kovacs used the widely accepted working definition of Internet governance that is contained in the Tunis Agenda as a starting point to highlight three conceptual moves that the Internet governance community should make to address current controversies regarding multistakeholderism head-on while at the same time strengthening its democratising potential. In the current post, she in addition makes four practical proposals to strengthen multistakeholderism’s legitimacy and accountability. This is the second part of a two-part post that draws on Anja’s intervention in the session ​‘Multistakeholder Internet Governance: The Way Ahead’ at the 2014 Asia Pacific Regional Internet Governance Forum.   More

Multistakeholderism has become a deeply contested term and practice. How can we fully address the controversies that surround it, especially regarding the roles and responsibilities of different stakeholders, so as to retain its democratising potential? Takes as her starting point the working definition of Internet governance included in the Tunis Agenda, Anja Kovacs provides three conceptual pointers that can help us move forward. This is the first part of a two-part post that draws on Anja’s intervention in the session ​‘Multistakeholder Internet Governance: The Way Ahead’ at the 2014 Asia Pacific Regional Internet Governance Forum.   More

A Consultation Paper on Media Law was floated by the Law Commission of India in May 2014 to elicit views from all stakeholders, to be submitted to the Commission by mid-August 2014. The Consultation Paper covered a wide range of areas: from opinion polls to methods of media regulation, from media and individual privacy to cross media ownership. The Internet Democracy Project made the submission below to the Law Commission in response to this call, focusing on one of the central areas of the Consultation Paper to touch on freedom of expression on the Internet in India: social media and section 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000. The questions we answer below are the questions that have been raised by the Law Commission in the Consultation Paper.    More

The Internet Democracy Project is proud to be a signatory to the Lyon Declaration on Access to Information and Development, which was developed by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions and which has been publicly released today. The Declaration calls on the UN Member States ​‘to make an international commitment to use the post-2015 development agenda to ensure that everyone has access to, and is able to understand, use and share the information that is necessary to promote sustainable development and democratic societies’. The complete list of signatories and more information about the Declaration can be found on the Declaration website. The text of the Declaration is below.   More

Together with other civil society organisations from India, Brazil and South Africa, the Internet Democracy Project has called on the BRICS countries to ensure that Internet and human rights concerns are reflected in the Fortaleza Declaration of the Sixth BRICS Summit, Fortaleza, 14 – 16 July 2014.    More

Following the WSIS+10 High Level Event, the Internet Democracy Project, together with other colleagues in civil society who have been closely engaged in the preparatory processes for that event, has released the following statement, reflecting on the important gains we believe have been made in the process as well as on the way forward. The statement was shared with the ITU Secretariat as well as publicly distributed.   More