Guide to NoC RightsCon Tunis 2019

Thursday, June 13th, 2019

 

Decolonising Cyberpolicy: Developing a Cyberpolicy Framework Relevant to the Global South (ID 1045)

Lock and Key: Cybersecurity and Encryption, Workshop

Speakers: Helani Galpaya, Elonnai Hickok, Isaac Rutenberg and Ruhiya Seward. Moderator Judith Mariscal.

Details: Thursday June 13, 2019 9:00am - 10:15am, Limes

Host Organization: Research ICT Africa - South Africa, The Centre for Internet & Society

Description: Internet adoption rates in the Global South have expanded significantly, resulting in unprecedented obstacles for national policymakers and regulators in developing effective policies that promote and protect digital rights while enabling digital innovation. Policymakers in the Global South face unique challenges in enabling a dynamic cyberpolicy environment and to create the capacity to respond with appropriate regulations that enforce legislation, protect users and promote effective adoption and innovation. Thus, a key challenge in the Global South regarding cyberpolicy is creating an inclusive digital society that fosters human rights, network openness, cybersecurity and promotes economic growth. The proposed workshop will enable an interactive discussion on national, regional and global approaches to cyberpolicy development while focusing on priorities of the Global South. Each of the participating panelists, invited from regional cyberpolicy centres based in Africa, Asia and Latin America respectively, will share their experiences of developing regionally-relevant research agendas that respond to cyberpolicy challenges that are globally relevant. Thereafter, a selection of stakeholders from various sectors will discuss the interactions between Global North and Global South cyberpolicy challenges and how to improve collaboration to bolster human rights-based policymaking within a global context.

 

Decolonising Cyberpolicy: Developing a Cyberpolicy Framework Relevant to the Global South (ID 1045)

Lock and Key: Cybersecurity and Encryption, Workshop

Speakers: Helani Galpaya, Elonnai Hickok, Isaac Rutenberg and Ruhiya Seward. Moderator: Judith Mariscal.

Details: Thursday June 13, 2019 9:00am - 10:15am, Limes.

Host Organization: Research ICT Africa - South Africa, The Centre for Internet & Society.

Description: Internet adoption rates in the Global South have expanded significantly, resulting in unprecedented obstacles for national policymakers and regulators in developing effective policies that promote and protect digital rights while enabling digital innovation. Policymakers in the Global South face unique challenges in enabling a dynamic cyberpolicy environment and to create the capacity to respond with appropriate regulations that enforce legislation, protect users and promote effective adoption and innovation. Thus, a key challenge in the Global South regarding cyberpolicy is creating an inclusive digital society that fosters human rights, network openness, cybersecurity and promotes economic growth. The proposed workshop will enable an interactive discussion on national, regional and global approaches to cyberpolicy development while focusing on priorities of the Global South. Each of the participating panelists, invited from regional cyberpolicy centres based in Africa, Asia and Latin America respectively, will share their experiences of developing regionally-relevant research agendas that respond to cyberpolicy challenges that are globally relevant. Thereafter, a selection of stakeholders from various sectors will discuss the interactions between Global North and Global South cyberpolicy challenges and how to improve collaboration to bolster human rights-based policymaking within a global context.

 

Antitrust, consumer protection, and the digital economy (ID 1387)

Forging Alternative Models for Business and Human Rights, Strategic Roundtable

Speakers Vinicius Marques de Carvalho, María Paz Canales, Diogo Moyses and Charlotte Slaiman. Moderator: Marcela Mattiuzzo.

Details: Thursday June 13, 2019 9:00am - 10:15am, Oya 2

Host Organization: Public Knowledge, VMCA.

Description: Dialogue with experts from the US, Europe, and Latin America on how we can use antitrust and consumer protection law to defend an open internet and govern technology.

 

Tackling Takedowns: Building platform transparency and accountability (ID 677)

Forging Alternative Models for Business and Human Rights, Strategic Roundtable

Speaker: Faiza Patel. Moderator: David Kaye.

Details: Thursday June 13, 2019 10:30am - 11:45am, Dougga.

Host Organization: Brennan Center for Justice.

Description: While debates continue about the standards that platforms should use for content moderation, there is broad agreement on the need for greater transparency and due process mechanisms. These include the Santa Clara principles, as well as more specific proposals on transparency and the building of institutions to bolster due process, such as a social media council, and Facebook's proposals for an oversight board and/or a "Supreme Court" to adjudicate takedowns. While overall pressure has led to some improvements, we need a broader strategy to force change. The organizers will circulate a paper with key proposals and questions ahead of the session, with the aim of identifying their strengths and weaknesses. The session will inform groups working in this space, and begin the process of developing at least some principles for civil society's approach to these issues.

 

The humanitarian cybersecurity and privacy problem (ID 114)

Privacy and Surveillance and Individual Security, Fireside Chat

Speakers: Fabien Leimgruber and Charlotte Lindsey-Curtet. Moderator: Tina Bouffet

Details: Thursday June 13, 2019 2:15pm – 3:30pm, Oya 1

Host Organization: ICRC

Description: In this session, participants will have the opportunity to learn and interact with ICRC experts on important aspects related to the use of technologies and data in humanitarian action in particular through the following prisms or angles: 1 – The ‘traditional’ cybersecurity angle: Do you know how to protect affected people's data? do you do it? This part will focus on understanding what data flows surround humanitarian worker, why they should pay attention to them, and how they can help to protect them where needed. 2 – Opening the Pandora box of the data economy? Moving the conversation beyond the purely 'data protection' discourse to include certain actor's positive obligation not to collect or create business models that could put people at risk in warzones. More than words, what can be done? 3 - Shifting from a discourse of risk mitigation to one of positive responsibility Can we create a safe digital space for humanitarian action? what does it take? What a humanitarian purpose approach to data look like and what does it take to truly make happen?

 

Beyond Dating Apps: LGBTQ people in other online platforms (ID 1475)

Intersectionality on the Internet: Diversity and Representation, Fishbowl

Speakers: Thiago Oliva and Soudeh Rad. Moderator: Dennys Antonialli.

Details: Thursday June 13, 2019 2:15pm - 3:30pm, Oya 3

Host Organization: InternetLab

Description: This session addresses pressing issues faced by the LGBTQ community in the digital environment. The panel will explore the promises and opportunities of the internet for enabling the development of a strong and thriving LGBTQ community, as well as the challenges and perils posed by new telecommunications technologies when it comes to those users. The primary goal is to move away from discussing dating apps, inviting speakers from civil society and other internet platforms in order to identify other specific issues that have proven to be particularly sensitive for the LGBTQ community and the internet. Considering the “meetup” format proposed by the organizers, participants will engage in more active conversation. At the beginning of the session, speakers will start the conversation by presenting their perspectives on the topic, based on relevant work, research and/or personal experience. They will make a mapping effort in order to identify issues that have proven to be particularly sensitive for the LGBTQ community, such as anonymity and tools for discovering sexuality and gender identity online; access to information, particularly sexual health information; digital security and surveillance, hate speech, harassment and online gender-based violence; advocacy and movement building; and so on.

 

#DigitalPolitik and the Internet's Warring States Period (ID 1708)

Democracy and Conflict and Shrinking Civic Spaces, Workshop

Speakers: Sean McDonald and Jonnie Penn. Moderator: Rohinton Medhora.

Details: Thursday June 13, 2019 2:15pm - 3:30pm, Carthage 2.

Host Organization: Digital Public, Centre for International Governance Innovation.

Description: The global internet continues to fragment. Governments, in particular, are using their influence to shape the ways that digital companies, markets, and rights connect us online. This new form of realpolitik, which we call “digitalpolitik,” is an emerging tactical playbook for how governments use their political, regulatory, military, and commercial powers to project influence in global, digital markets. This session will, building on an early, initial effort, begin a conversation on identifying, categorizing, and tracking the strategies and tactics, and their divergence, among the world's most influential digital actors.

 

Shaping Multilaterals: How Civil Society can influence and participate multilateral processes such as the UN or the WTO (ID 1417)

Show and Tell: Skill-building for Advocacy and Campaigning, Meetup

Speakers: Mehwish Ansari and Deborah Brown. Moderator: Gus Rossi.

Details: Thursday June 13, 2019 2:15pm - 3:30pm, Elydhafa.

Host Organization: Public Knowledge, Association for Progressive Communications.

Description: A discussion on how civil society advocates can influence and participate in multilateral processes such as the UN and the WTO.

 

Ethical AI Career Pathways: Preparing tomorrow’s leaders to innovate ethically (ID 876)

Artificial Intelligence and Automation and Algorithmic Accountability, Meetup

Speakers: Hibah Kamal-Grayson, Jessica Dheere, Jessica Fjeld and Ernani Cerasaro. Moderators Amar Ashar and Hannah Hilligoss.

Details: Thursday June 13, 2019 3:45pm - 5:00pm, Oya 2

Host Organization: erkman Klein Center for Internet & Society - Harvard University

Description: To respond to the challenges around disinformation, data misuse, and the development and deployment of artificial intelligence (AI), tech companies are hiring Chief Ethics Officers and launching ethics and society teams; governments are creating departments dedicated to technology and innovation, and scores of civil society and research organizations on AI are popping up. In parallel, higher education institutions are developing new curriculum and multidisciplinary pedagogical approaches to prepare students to solve these complex problems. This session will explore novel programs that create better interfaces between the academic, private, and public sectors. Representatives from industry, government, civil society, and higher education will briefly share their work and what they are looking for in new hires or how they are preparing students to enter the field. All participants in the meet-up will use post-it notes to map out the educational backgrounds, skills, and core competencies required for these new roles with an emphasis on ethics and values. The session format will enable productive conversation about designing the right jobs, departments, and teams to solve the most pressing tech challenges. It will also illuminate where higher education institutions should dedicate resources to equip students with the tools required to thrive in the field.

 

Big Data strikes back: building the data protection rebellion (ID 377)

Data Trust and Protection and User Control, Strategic Roundtable

Moderator: Diego Naranjo.

Details: Thursday June 13, 2019 3:45pm - 5:00pm, Dougga.

Host Organization: European Digital Rights (EDRi), IPANDETEC.

Description: During this strategic roundtable we aim at having to build an alliance with data protection activists worldwide that would like to advocate for their countries to sign and ratify (and implement) Convention 108 of the Council of Europe on data protection and implement national data protection laws. Convention 108 is open to signing and ratification from any country in the world (not only CoE countries) and it sets the highest standards for data protection worldwide. However, not many countries have signed and ratified the Convention.

 

Detecting, Understanding, and Countering Censorship of Wikipedia (ID 776)

(un)Censored: The Future of Expression, Panel

Speakers: Sukhbir Singh, Maria Xynou and Emna Mizouni. Moderator Jan Gerlach.

Details: Thursday June 13, 2019 5:15pm - 6:30pm, Adean

Host Organization: Wikimedia Foundation

Description: This panel will provide an overview of how a global and open internet platform like Wikipedia can detect and respond to threats to access to information. Censorship of Wikipedia has been observed in twelve countries, preventing a large swath of the world population from accessing the free online encyclopedia. Wikipedia's global audience presents both an opportunity to track internet accessibility around the world, as well as a challenge to quickly identify and respond to censorship events that affect the platform. First, we will review the historical efforts to detect and understand censorship on Wikipedia. Second, we will identify some of the opportunities and challenges that an open platform faces when responding to censorship. Third, we will present and seek input on some possible ways to help everyday internet users learn about censorship and overcome obstacles to access. We present our tools and findings in this session with the hope of strengthening the relations between such projects and civil society groups working in the field of digital rights towards the common goal of making the Internet free and accessible for all.

 

Between the Silicon Valley-China spectrum: Toward a democratic regulation to promote a free and open Internet (ID 1146)

Forging Alternative Models for Business and Human Rights, Strategic Roundtable

Speakers: Joan Barata, Gustavo Gomez, Juliana Nolasco, Wolfgang Schulz and Carlos Affonso Souza. Moderator: Jamila Venturini.

Details: Thursday June 13, 2019 5:15pm - 6:30pm, Amilcar

Host Organization: Intervozes

Description: The aim is to discuss proposals for a democratic regulation of the Tech Giants to guarantee a free and open internet and the promotion of the freedom of expression online, helping to stop attempts of abusive and anti-democratic state Internet regulations frameworks - taking as extreme points the two models suggested by the French President Emmanuel Macron at the Internet Governance Forum 2018 (see session description. The intention is to promote an informed debate about the wished scope of regulation in order to safeguard users and platforms without harming freedom of expression. The foundations and limits of this regulation should be the internationally recognized human rights standards, contained in documents like the statements of the Special Rapporteurs on freedom of expression and those built in multistakeholders forums, like the Manila Principles and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. We should also take into account asymmetries, encompassing large platforms without being an obstacle to innovation or for small businesses or non-profit initiatives. Thereby, our goal is to foster and promote the participation mainly of the voices from the Global South, generally excluded from large international fora and from multilateral decision-making spaces.

 

The global fight for digital privacy in the face of authoritarianism and surveillance capitalism (ID 697)

Privacy and Surveillance and Individual Security, Panel

Speakers: Kushal Das, Juliana Guerra, Gus Gustavo, Alison Macrina and Wieke Mielink. Moderator: Silvia.

Details: Thursday June 13, 2019 5:15pm - 6:30pm, Village Stage.

Host Organization: Library Freedom Project, The Tor Project.

Description: In the last few years, privacy initiatives have gained strength and recognition in the broader human rights space. But while there are more opportunities than ever for human rights defenders to learn about protecting their digital footprint, the threats have also become more powerful. The rise of right wing governments and the continued influence of surveillance capitalism means that more people around the world face grave risks to their privacy and free expression. How do we scale digital privacy efforts globally in the face of these threats? This panel features speakers engaged in answering this question. They represent The Tor Project, Derechos Digitales, the Hivos/Digital Defender Partnership, Freedom of the Press Foundation, and Library Freedom Project. Each panelist will take a few minutes to talk about their own work and discuss their approach to this challenge. We will share information about the communities we each focus on, the ways we've tried to build networks of trainers, the particular challenges in our regions, and our successes. Then the moderator will engage the panel in a discussion of ideas for engaging the broader community. We'll leave time for questions from the audience as we want to be thinking about these issues collaboratively.

Date: 
Thursday, June 13, 2019 (All day)