IGF 2020 NRIs Collaborative Session: Technical aspects of content regulation

NRIs Collaborative Session: Technical aspects of content regulation

Theme: Trust
Policy Questions: 

• What are the means of online content regulation? 
• What are concrete examples of the multistakeholder response toward the content regulation?
• Are content regulation practices able to interfere with Internet identifiers? How?
• How do we set up standards for content regulation while preserving human rights and freedoms online?

Relevance to Theme and Internet Governance: 
We are witnessing the rapid growth of inaccurate and hateful content online that is negatively shaping the public opinion and impacting democratic processes, as well as individual people’s lives. This problem also comes with significant implications on various human rights, including freedom of expression, right to privacy, right to be informed, among others. Countries are applying different ways to regulate online content, ranging from introducing standardisation, burdening the online platforms or interfering with inline identifiers. It is not rarely that these means affect the human rights and freedoms of online users, as well as the overall trust between people and the Internet.

Description: 
This session will focus on understanding technical and policy aspects of local policies and standards for content restrictions and moderation. It will learn from the multistakeholder communities of the Brazil IGF, France IGF, German IGF, IGF-USA, North Macedonia IGF. 

In this sense, the session will address issues related to content regulation, such as (i) policies and standards put in place by governments and local multistakeholder communities; (ii) ways in which content regulation may impact social interactions and people's rights; (iii) potential impacts content regulation may have on Internet identifiers and how to cope with these situations; (iv) mechanisms undertaken to enforce measures, ranging from direct action by public authorities to specific actions in partnership with market players (e.g. ISPs, technical operators and social network platforms).

This session will also outline some of the good practices regarding the regulation of hate speech and disinformation.

Format of the Session: 
60-minutes interactive roundtable discussion with introductory remarks and open floor for questions and answers.

Expected Outcomes:  
Understanding specific challenges and examples of good practices on local levels, as well as strengthening networks of collaboration on the topic between the NRIs.

Discussion Facilitation: 
The moderator will follow the agreed set of policy questions and will allow for introductory, case study remarks by the NRIs speakers. This will be followed by engaging other present participants into developing an interactive discussion.

Online participation: 
A dedicated online moderator will be placed next to the onsite moderator. All participants will be using the online speaking queue to be treated equally in their requests for interventions. All input presentations will be made available at the IGF website and links will be shared via the online tool.

Co-Organizers:

1. Brazil IGF 
2. France IGF
3. German IGF
4. IGF-USA
5. North Macedonia IGF 

Moderator: Mr. Peter Koch, German IGF

Rapporteur: Luiza Mesquita, Brazil IGF

Connection to SDGs:

• GOAL 1: No Poverty

• GOAL 2: Zero Hunger

• GOAL 3: Good Health and Well-being

• GOAL 4: Quality Education

• GOAL 5: Gender Equality

• GOAL 6: Clean Water and Sanitation

• GOAL 7: Affordable and Clean Energy

• GOAL 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

• GOAL 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

• GOAL 10: Reduced Inequality

• GOAL 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

• GOAL 12: Responsible Consumption and Production

• GOAL 13: Climate Action

• GOAL 14: Life Below Water

• GOAL 15: Life on Land

• GOAL 16: Peace and Justice Strong Institutions

• GOAL 17: Partnerships to achieve the Goal

ANNEX: Substantive inputs from the co-organizers:

Brazil IGF
Technical aspects of content regulation
The phenomenon of disinformation currently draws attention due to the massive dissemination of false news and the effects it produces on society, especially during electoral periods. However, there are great challenges for the development of actions that make it possible, on the one hand, to safeguard fundamental rights such as freedom of expression, privacy and access to information, and on the other hand, to recover respect for cultural and thought diversity, relevant aspects for democratic processes.
Considering those challenges, a recent publication <https://cgi.br/publicacao/relatorio-internet-desinformacao-e-democracia/> has been launched within the activities of the Brazilian Internet Steering Committee (CGI.br) in terms of Internet and Democracy, with a major focus on disinformation and its effects to democratic processes. This outcome was fostered by a Working Group formed by CGI.br Board Members, which also included several other Brazilian experts in the field, from different national institutions. A full report has been released in March 2020, which serves as a concrete best practice to be shared with other NRIs in the session. A brief overview of the document contents will be provided, followed by a presentation of the multistakeholder process that led to that contribution, as well as the lessons learned from the two-year process, which is still ongoing.

France IGF
Content regulation and tackling the online spread of dangerous contents is drawing the attention of French policymakers. Online platforms are subject to an obligation of transparency (Cf article L 111-7 of the French Consumer Code). A number of legislative initiatives are being discussed. In 2018 France’s parliament has passed a law to tackle disinformation which aims at better-protecting democracy against fake news deliberately spread and to empower judges to order the immediate removal (legal injunction issued by an interim judge) of such content during election campaigns.

A bill is also going discussed (pending current crisis resolution) on hate speech and received a lot of criticism. The draft legislation aims at removing hateful content within 24 hours or face a fine. A number of technical measures are also being considered to block content. A short 24-hours deadline may lead to the use of automated content removal and over-removal. Such legislations may also overlap with the future Digital service act negotiated at EU level.