What constitutes harmful content?

* We all agree upon the need for regulation on child pornography. However, we also agree that the discussion on content regulation has been oversimplified and has so far excluded various kinds of content and practices such as harassment and erotization of violence of women in cyber space, or torture of detainees and prisoners of war.

* It is not only a question of what is harmful content but what constitutes harm, current regulation practices that seek to prevent exposure to pornographic or other harmful content do not necessarily lead to lesser harm but inadvertently deny/limit freedom of expression or access to vital information on sexuality or health (AIDS or safe sex).

Roles: Who should be part of defining what is harmful content, and what are the current practices?

*Governments: State intervention does not need to mean top-down regulatory regimes enforced by law, but an active state which is responding to pressing social need of 'vulnerable groups'. It is not role of state to define ethical standards and morality but it can play its role in education (to teach children and public what is freedom of expression in terms of liberties but also responsibilities) and protection of human rights of end-users.

*Private sector (ISPs, Software developers): Giving the regulatory role to corporate entities is even more problematic than states having such power. There is no procedural or judicial mechanism to challenge their decisions overs spaces for free speech.

*End-users: End-users have a multitude of concerns related to content regulation including freedom of expression, access to information and disparate values and cultural standards. However the debates around harmful content and its regulations lacks participation of end-users living in different context, especially suppressed voices of other than those of the economic North, and of women. There also seems to be a lack of variety of perspectives, including feminist.

How to move forward?
* Considering the complexity of the issue and concerns, it is important that the debates around harmful content involves the diverse voices of end-users in their different political, social and civil contexts. Regulations must evolve more organically and must take account of the values and socio-cultural practices of end-users. This could include forms of self-regulation within communities or individuals, or peer-to-peer monitoring practices.

*We also recommend an exploration of co-regulation practices where states may provide a public framework, and consumers/end users decide the values that will guide their practices and what sanctions will apply where common values are transgressed .

* It is important to recognize there is no easy solution, and that the effectiveness of content regulation mechanisms and tools must be assessed from the point of transparency as well as accountability of the different actors working around content regulation.


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