Internet’s contrasts: rights/obligations, inclusion/exclusion, in/accessibility, dis/connection, ...

Description

This networking session will revolve around the following IGF22's theme: Connecting All People and Safeguarding Human Rights. It addresses, both from theoretical and practical viewpoint, the need to respond to a series of societal challenges, recently emerged or escalated, concerning internet (access), which are called here ‘contrasts’: rights/obligations, inclusion/exclusion, in/accessibility, dis/connection, in/equality, in/efficiency, progress/regress, etc. For instance, nowadays using the internet has increasingly turned from a mere option to an obligation as many essential services have moved to the digital sphere; while digital identification is needed to access most such services, not all users benefit therefrom; internet surveillance, censorship or shutdowns are on the rise, yet so are hate speech and disinformation; etc.

This networking session is open to policy-makers, researchers, civil society organizations as well as public and private sector actors interested in protecting and promoting human rights in the context of internet (access). We aim to set up an agenda for a debate and build a network of stakeholders in this area where theoretical reflection can be translated into concrete policy and/or legislative proposals.

The first part of the session (about 30 min.) will sketch the problem(s) and offer possible solution(s) in the format of a few short interventions with about 5 min. per ’contrast’. The second part (about 25 min.) will critically analyse them during an informal coffee break around a few coffee tables devoted to each of the ‘contrasts’. Moderator’s remarks gathered during both parts will close this networking session (5 min.).

Period	29 Nov 2022
Event title	Internet Governance Forum: Resilient Internet for a Shared Sustainable and Common Future
Event type	Conference
Conference number	17
Location	Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Degree of Recognition	International