GNI/Role of Intermediaries
Overview
All over the world – from the Americas to Europe to the Middle East to Africa and Asia – companies in the Information & Communications Technology (ICT) sector face increasing government pressure to comply with domestic laws and policies in ways that may conflict with the internationally recognized human rights of freedom of expression and privacy.
In response, a multi-stakeholder group of companies, civil society organizations (including human rights and press freedom groups), investors and academics spent two years negotiating and creating a collaborative approach to protect and advance freedom of expression and privacy in the ICT sector; in 2008, this effort led to the public launch of the The Global Network Initiative.
This session will elucidate some of the problems faced by intermediaries while pointing to the potential solutions represented by the GNI.
Recommended Readings
- Colin Maclay, "Protecting Privacy and Expression Online," (Cambridge: MIT Press)
- John Palfrey, "Reluctant Gatekeepers: Corporate Ethics on the Internet"
- Jillian York, "Policing Content in the Quasi-Public Sphere" OpenNet Initiative paper(September 2010).
- Ethan Zuckerman, "Intermediary Censorship," (Cambridge: MIT Press) 2010.