RightsCon Tunis 2019

This panel will address the severe increase in measures taken by states to restrict internet access and curtail online expression, and how civil society are counteracting these trends. The session will focus on the litigation of internet shutdowns and cybercrime laws. It aim is to foster collaborations for strategic litigation against these digital rights violations.

Instances where states have shut down or partially restricted internet access have continued to proliferate. Cybercrime laws have also come into force in numerous jurisdictions, many of which contain broad provisions that stifle protected expression and journalistic practice. The dual challenge these pose for internet access and online expression are at the forefront digital rights struggles on the continent.

Through a group discussion led by expert practitioners, this session will refine a set of standards to guide (and significantly improve!) supranational human rights bodies' public-facing online information management. This discussion will get to the heart of a long-standing problem: if people cannot access "the law," it has no meaning. Advocates, victims, scholars, governments, and the human rights bodies themselves must be able to find, search, and share human rights bodies' documents in order to know what the law is, communicate it effectively, and ensure its implementation. Moreover, in an era of ever-increasing reprisals and attacks on civil society, privacy and security must be ensured. However, the current state of affairs is mostly dismal. Human rights bodies are woefully behind the times in adopting the policies and technology that would allow them to effectively and securely communicate with constituents and share information online. On the basis of a "zero draft" of the proposed standards, the discussion will address: human rights advocates' need for reliable and timely online access to human rights bodies' decisions and other information; victims' and human rights advocates' security and privacy needs; the technological requirements; and, the resource constraints that must be overcome.