On December 10th, a small delegation of Wikimedians attended the Council of Europe (CoE) seminar “Protecting human rights online: Prevention rather than cure.” (Thanks Yana for the heads up.)
The context is that CoE has produced a guide to educate Internet users on their online rights – a guide adopted by all 47 member states in the CoE Committee of Ministers. It has so far been officially translated into eight languages. The rights included are rights based on the European Convention on Human Rights.
The Guide aims at explaining in a simple manner the practical implications of rights such as free speech, access to ICT infrastructure and education, privacy, and due process. The entire text is 4 pages and can be found here:
http://www.coe.int/en/web/internet-users-rights/guide
Now the CoE are in the process of figuring out how to spread the guide to as many Internet users as possible.
The main points made by CoE and other participants at the event:
* No new rights are established. The guide just consolidates and explains existing rights. * There is no distinction between online and offline human rights. They apply equally. * The biggest threat to human rights online is the delegation of policing responsibilities to Internet intermediaries. * Legal action is not the only way to approach violations of online rights. Another option is to increase the awareness of human rights among online service providers and public authorities. * The focus should be on preventing violations of online rights rather than on not on curing them. Spreading this guide is a means to that end.
The seminar was followed by a roundtable discussion with a smaller number of participants. The CoE expressed an interest in what the Wikimedia community can do to help disseminate the guide – both the guide as a whole and the information in the guide.
Input on how the Wikimedians can best help getting this valuable information into the hands of those who need it is much appreciated.
Best regards, Karl and Neno