[Advocacy Advisors] Council of Europe, a Guide to Your Online Rights

[Karl Sigfrid]

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

-- 
Karl Sigfrid
+32 487 94 76 30
karl at wikimedia.be

Rue du Trone 51
1000 Brussels



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