Session
Organizer 1: Amine Hacha, 🔒Lebanese Cyberspace Association
Organizer 2: Pedro de Perdigão Lana, ISOC Brazil
Speaker 1: Vint Cerf, Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist at Google
Speaker 2: Farzaneh Badii, Founder of Digital Medusa
Speaker 3: Amine Hacha, Founder of Lebanese Cyberspace
Speaker 4: Bruna Martins dos Santos, Digital Action
Speaker 5:
Amine Hacha, Civil Society, Asia-Pacific Group
Pedro de Perdigão Lana, ISOC Brasil
Pedro de Perdigão Lana, Technical Community, Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC)
Roundtable
Duration (minutes): 90
Format description: The roundtable format is an excellent way to achieve the expected outcomes of the session and support the NCUC's mission related to outreach and engagement. This format fosters equal participation and collaborative dialogue, encouraging the participation of diverse voices and allowing for shorter initial expositions and a slightly higher number of speakers/facilitators in the same timeframe. The 90-minute session is designed to facilitate focused discussions while respecting participants' time, making it an effective way to generate actionable solutions and achieve positive outcomes.
A. In what ways does the Non-commercial Users Constituency (NCUC) and its allies influence the development of international policies to ensure the protection of user data and privacy in the face of increasing digital surveillance? B. How can the NCUC and allies advocate for equitable and inclusive internet governance that respects freedom of expression and counters the overreach of both state and non-state actors in cyberspace? C. What strategies can the NCUC and allies employ to promote transparency and accountability in the management of cross-border data flows, particularly in safeguarding the rights of users in less represented regions?
What will participants gain from attending this session? Participants in the session will gain a comprehensive understanding of the Non-commercial Users Constituency (NCUC) and its crucial role in advocating for a safe internet, especially the historical work done within the Domain Name System. The NCUC’s efforts in policy development, privacy rights, and security measures will be highlighted, providing attendees with actionable knowledge on how to engage in internet governance. Through interactive discussions and case studies, attendees will learn about the NCUC’s successful strategies in protecting user interests and promoting transparency. This session is an invaluable opportunity to connect with the NCUC community, gain new perspectives, and acquire tools to actively contribute to shaping a secure and user-empowered online world, so non-commercial users from different fora can exchange experiences and lessons learned to build other successful strategies.
3. Good Health and Well-Being
4. Quality Education
5. Gender Equality
7. Affordable and Clean Energy
8. Decent Work and Economic Growth
9. Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
10. Reduced Inequalities
11. Sustainable Cities and Communities
13. Climate Action
16. Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
17. Partnerships for the Goals
Description:
The session “Non-commercial Users Constituency Role in a Safe Internet” will focus on the important role that non-commercial users play in fostering a secure online environment, focusing on the ICANN and the Domain Name System examples, but going beyond these arenas. This session will explore the subtheme of user empowerment and safety. It will cover topics such as privacy protection, data security, and the impact of policy on user rights. Participants will engage in discussions on how non-commercial users, often the most vulnerable and least heard, (usually with fewer institutional decision-making mechanisms and fewer resources), can influence Internet governance and contribute to a safer Internet for all. Our approach is interactive and inclusive, featuring a panel of experts from diverse backgrounds, including cybersecurity, law, and digital rights advocacy. We will showcase innovative approaches, such as the use of open-source tools for privacy protection, and community-driven initiatives that have successfully advocated for user rights. Best practices from various regions will be highlighted, demonstrating concrete impacts and results. For instance, the session will present case studies for diverse regional areas. We aim to disseminate how Non-commercial Users are not just consumers of policy but active participants in shaping a safe internet landscape for all, and how they can better engage in different areas to protect and advance their rights.
Expected Outcomes: - Enhanced Understanding: Participants will gain a deeper understanding of challenges and opportunities in internet governance, especially in areas related to the DNS from the perspective of noncommercial users. This includes insights into how privacy & data protection can be balanced with digital innovation & the interests of different players. - Policy Development: The session aims to develop of policies that protect user rights in cyberspace & online. Also, discuss NCUC's role in shaping these policies and influencing future Internet governance frameworks. - Actionable Strategies: Attendees will gain knowledge about practical strategies for advocating user rights and safe internet practices. This empowers them to take action within their communities/networks. Specific Outputs: - Publication: A summary report of key discussions, best practices, recommendations, and action points from the session for stakeholders and policymakers. - Network Building: Participants will establish a network for continued collaboration leading to joint initiatives.
Hybrid Format: After the initial input from the facilitators, questions and comments will be collected alternately from online and onsite participants. We also intend to have at least one of the speakers online and, during the discussions, prompt this/those speaker(s) who will not be present to interact more actively than the others, if we identify a lower level of online participation. The objective of this permanently active interaction would be to stimulate contributions of those that, for a variety of reasons, cannot be present in Riyadh, recognizing that they are people and groups who are central to the work carried out by the NCUC.
Report
Safety online is a much more complex issue than it may look at first sight, especially because the safety of a few users gets in conflict with the safety of others
A safe Internet for noncommercial users goes way beyond a more strict definition of safety/security: meaningful access, new technologies, and guaranteeing participation, among many others, are all elements of this discussion
Keep a qualified dialogue going to try to find a balance between safety/security and other rights of users, while always preserving human rights
The importance of collaboration among non-commercial entities and individuals, as to have some effectiveness in a space where power concentrates in companies and state actors
In the initial round of the workshop, Vint Cerf started by giving an overview of safety online, considering the non-commercial position on the Internet. Open-source software was indicated as a potential solution to many barriers, but not a miraculous one to every problem. Internet universality indicators were remembered as useful to address the positive effects of the global network, for example, understanding better access.
Speakers also remembered the role of the non-commercial community in highlighting the digital divide and properly including the global south in the discussions. The importance of working collaboratively is to amplify the noncommercial interests and the responsibility of stakeholders in sharing info and communication. Speakers also mentioned the importance of digital literacy and capacity building instead of creating new regulations. The scope of the noncommercial constituency is global, not national, so it does not matter where you are from as a user, but local cultural contexts should be taken into account, something that is relevant when we are talking, among other examples, of AI ethics frameworks. These issues were especially highlighted by Milad Sebaaly and Manal Abdel-Samad, former Lebanon Minister of Information.
Privacy and protecting cryptography were mentioned as priorities, especially considering the rise of surveillance technologies in many regions, and how accountability and transparency are also part of this discussion. This topic was highlighted by Farzaneh Badii and Bruna Martins dos Santos. This became a hot topic of discussion during the session, with speakers, such as Vint, and participants, such as Charles Shaban, arguing that absolute anonymity and privacy could be a problem, especially for law enforcement, considering crimes and illegal content that are created and/or shared on diverse online spaces, or how vulnerable groups can be predated in cyberspace, as pointed by Robert Carolina. Farzaneh remembered how these mechanisms could be abused by authoritarian governments or other authorities.
Bruna pointed out how the non-commercial community has a specific role of “making noise” and oversight, especially regarding the protection of human rights, considering the inherent lack of other important resources to be heard (such as the influence that arises from money or decision-making powers).
One of the main conclusions related to the more controversial topics, especially the tension between some intersection zones of privacy and safety/security, were recognized as complicated topics with no simple answer, on which continuing dialogue is necessary while trying to find common ground that doesn’t result in users rights violation.