Context

The transformative nature of the Internet means that it is involved in many, if not most, facets of modern life. Studies have shown the disruption of Internet access is not free but rather cost dearly. Not only do Internet disruptions affect the lives and rights of citizens, they interfere with all manner of commerce. Shutdowns of the Internet have been occurring at an increasing rate. Research has shown the cost to national economies to be in the billions of dollars.

Specifically the scope of internet openness covers anything that affects the ability for anyone to freely communicate with anyone else at any time from anywhere about any subject with the bounds set by internationally agreed standards of Human Rights. Whether it is a matter of rights or of economy, disrupting the openness of the Internet has negative effects on the well being of nations.

Human Rights Framework

This section includes non-exhaustive list of references to United Nations documents that provide a foundation for the interpretation of human rights in the context of the Web. 

While all of the rights defined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and covenants are equal and inseparable, several have particular relevance to Openness of the Internet and serve as the underpinning for the public interests of the rights holders related to their freedoms on the Internet, several have a high degree of significance to openness on the Internet.

Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR): ‘Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.’

“Indeed, the Internet has become a key means by which individuals can exercise their right to freedom of opinion and expression, as guaranteed by article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The latter provides that: (a) Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference; (b) Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice; (c) The exercise of the rights provided for in paragraph 2 of this article carries with it special duties and responsibilities. It may therefore be subject to certain restrictions, but these shall only be such as are provided by law and are necessary: (d) for respect of the rights or reputations of others; (e) for the protection of national security or of public order (ordre public), or of public health or morals.”

– Frank La Rue – Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, 16 May 2011(A/HRC/17/27)

“In this regard, the Special Rapporteur also emphasizes that the existing international human rights standards, in particular article 19, paragraph 3, of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, remain pertinent in determining the types of restrictions that are in breach of States’ obligations to guarantee the right to freedom of expression.”

– Frank La Rue – Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, 16 May 2011 (A/HRC/17/27)

Article 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR):
(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
(2) No one may be compelled to belong to an association.

“[The United Nations’ Human Rights Council] Calls upon all States to address security concerns on the Internet in accordance with their international human rights obligations to ensure protection of freedom of expression, freedom of association, privacy and other human rights online, including through national democratic, transparent institutions, based on the rule of law, in a way that ensures freedom and security on the Internet so that it can continue to be a vibrant force that generates economic, social and cultural development.”

– The UN Human Rights Council, 27 June 2016 [A/HRC/32/L.20]

Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR):
(1) Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.
(2) Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.

“With the Internet emerging as a critical platform for scientific and cultural flows and exchanges, freedom of access to the Internet and maintaining its open architecture are important for upholding the right to participate in cultural life and to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress and its applications.”

– Frank La Rue, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression (A/HRC/17/27)

Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR):

(2) Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice.
(3) The exercise of the rights provided for in paragraph 2 of this article carries with it special duties and responsibilities. It may therefore be subject to certain restrictions, but these shall only be such as are provided by law and are necessary:

(a) For respect of the rights or reputations of others;
(b) For the protection of national security or of public order (ordre public), or of public health or morals.

With relation to these rights, several organisms, including the Special Rapporteurs, have made frequent reference to the application of these rights, as well as all other rights in the inseparable declaration of rights, to online human activity.

“Any restriction [to art. 19.3 of the ICCPR, regarding the right to freedom of expression], to be lawful, must protect only those interests enumerated in article 19 (3): the rights or reputations of others, national security or public order, or public health or morals. Restrictions designed to protect the rights of others, for instance, include ‘human rights as recognized in the Covenant and more generally in international human rights law’. Restrictions to protect rights to privacy, life, due process, association and participation in public affairs, to name a few, would be legitimate when demonstrated to meet the tests of legality and necessity.”

– David Kaye – Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Report, June 2018 (A/HRC/38/35)

“Filtering of content on the Internet, using communications ‘kill switches’ (i.e. shutting down entire parts of communications systems) and the physical takeover of broadcasting stations are measures which can never be justified under human rights law.”

– Joint Declaration by the United Nations Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the Organisation of American States and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, 4 May 2015 (Joint Declaration on Freedom of Expression and responses to conflict situation)

“… blocking is not justified to pursue aims which are listed under article 19, paragraph 3, of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and blocking lists are generally kept secret, which makes it difficult to assess whether access to content is being restricted for a legitimate purpose. [E]ven where justification is provided, blocking measures constitute an unnecessary or disproportionate means to achieve the purported aim, as they are often not sufficiently targeted and render a wide range of content inaccessible beyond that which has been deemed illegal.”

– Frank La Rue – Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, 16 May 2011 (A/HRC/17/27)

“The Special Rapporteur calls upon States that currently block websites to provide lists of blocked websites and full details regarding the necessity and justification for blocking each individual website. An explanation should also be provided on the affected websites as to why they have been blocked. Any determination on what content should be blocked must be undertaken by a competent judicial authority or a body which is independent of any political, commercial, or other unwarranted influences.” 

– Frank La Rue – Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, 16 May 2011 (A/HRC/17/27)

“Human rights law guarantees individuals a remedy determined by competent judicial, administrative or legislative authorities (article 2 (3) of the Covenant). Remedies must be known by and accessible to anyone who has had their rights violated; must involve prompt, thorough and impartial investigation of alleged violations; and must be capable of ending ongoing violations…”

– David Kaye – Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, 29 August 2018 (A/73/348)

“Unlike the right to form and hold opinions, the rights to express and access information and ideas may be subject to restrictions under limited circumstances (article 19 (3) of the Covenant)….In an AI-governed system, the dissemination of information and ideas is governed by opaque forces with priorities that may be at odds with an enabling environment for media diversity and independent voices. Relevantly, the Human Rights Committee has found that States should “take appropriate action … to prevent undue media dominance or concentration by privately controlled media groups in monopolistic situations that may be harmful to a diversity of sources and views.

…States should create a policy and legislative environment conducive to a diverse, pluralistic information environment…”

– David Kaye – Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, 29 August 2018 (A/73/348)

“In order to protect against unaccountable private domination of the environment for freedom of expression, we urge the development of… : Human rights sensitive solutions to the challenges caused by disinformation, including the growing possibility of ‘deep fakes’, in publicly accountable and targeted ways, using approaches that meet the international law standards of legality, legitimacy of objective, and necessity and proportionality.”

– United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Representative on Freedom of the Media, the Organization of American States (OAS) Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information, 2018 (Joint Declaration on Media Independence and Diversity in the Digital Age)

The sections above are but a selection of the many Human Rights that government officials should uphold when developing policies that affect the internet.

Other Existing Frameworks

This section includes references to frameworks that third parties have developed to further delineate rights and principles in the context of the Web. Though this list is not exhaustive, it can provide further support to those interested in understanding the Contract’s objectives.

The Tunis Agenda for the Information Society: A consensus statement adopted in 2005 at the World Summit on the Information Society, which set the ground for the creation of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF). While currently primarily a discussion space, there are efforts towards formalizing the outputs from the activities that take place there. The IGF, and other IGF like efforts, should be looked at with consideration of the recommendations made in The Age of Digital Interdependence report from the UN High-Level Panel on Digital Cooperation for furthering and improving the effectiveness of the current models of Internet governance and regulatory function.

UNESCO ROAM Principles: The framework promotes the embracing of four principles believed to have been core fundamental to the development of the Internet Rights based, Openness, Accessibility and Multistakeholder participation (ROAM), which offers a special focus on access to information and knowledge, freedom of expression, privacy and ethics. They were agreed upon by UNESCO member states in 2015, are currently being applied in diverse fields including blocking and filtering and in artificial intelligence. The value of these principles was acknowledged by the UN Secretary-General’s High Level Panel on Digital Cooperation.

Glossary

This section provides a set of references that may help those seeking to understand the technical terminology used in the Contract.

At the end of each definition, there is a reference to the key Principles to which each definition relates. Key: Governments: Principles 1-3; Companies: Principles 4-6; Citizens: Principles 7-9

• Affordability of internet access: the extent to which internet use is limited by the cost of access relative to income levels (Source: A4AI 2018 Affordability Report). – Relevant to Principle 1
• Barriers for people with disabilities: limitations faced by people with varied hearing, movement, sight, and cognitive abilities in the ways they can navigate the internet, contribute to and enjoy the tools made available through it (UNESCO). – Also see “Web Accessibility. – Relevant to Principle 4
• Civil discourse: engagement in conversation with the purpose of enhancing understanding. It requires respect of the other participants; avoids hostility, direct antagonism, or excessive persuasion; it requires modesty and an appreciation for the other participant’s experience (Source: K.J. Gergen -Read More: Wikipedia). – Relevant to Principles 7-9
• Community networks: telecommunications infrastructure deployed and operated by a local group to meet their own communication needs. They are the result of people working together, combining their resources, organizing their efforts, and connecting themselves to close connectivity and cultural gaps (Source: ISOC, based on DCCC IRTF). – Relevant to Principles 1 and 4
• Competent and independent judicial authority: an impartial and independent authority, conversant in issues related to and competent to make judicial decisions about the legality of communications surveillance, the technologies used and human rights involved, and adequately resourced to exercise those functions (Source: Necessary & Proportionate, P6). – Relevant to Principle 3
• Data: an interpretable representation of information in a formalized manner suitable for communication, interpretation, or processing (Source: ISO). – Relevant to Principles 3 and 5
• Data breach: a breach of security leading to the accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure of, or access to, personal data transmitted, stored or otherwise processed (Source: GDPR, Article 4(12)). – Relevant to Principle 3
• Digital literacy: the skills and capabilities needed to participate fully, effectively and equally in our digital world (Source: Web Foundation). – Relevant to Principle 1
• Dig once regulations: “refers to policies that allow for and/or encourage deployment of conduit and fiber in transportation rights of way during other infrastructure improvement projects. This can include, for example, installing pipes under roadbeds that can house numerous internet cables. Rather than digging up the road each time a new company wants to install high-speed internet cables, the Dig Once infrastructure would permit companies access to their cables, allowing for upgrades and additions as needed” (Source: IEEE). – Relevant to Principle 1
• Diversity: diversity means understanding that each individual is unique, and recognizing our individual differences, which include but are not limited to age, ethnicity, class, gender, physical abilities/qualities, race, sexual orientation, national origin, religious status, gender expression, educational background, geographical location, income, marital status, parental status, work experiences, among others (Source: UN: Delivering successful change on diversity and inclusion in the UN). – Relevant to Principle 6
• Gender inclusive: a process that refers to how well different gender identities are included as equally valued players in initiatives. Gender-inclusive projects, programmes, political processes and government services are those which have protocols in place to ensure all genders are included and have their voices heard and opinions equally valued (Source: Adapted from UNDP). Inclusion policies have become key to close the measurable gap between women and men in their access to, use of and ability to influence, contribute to and benefit from ICTs (Source: A/HRC/35/9). – Relevant to Principles 1,4 and 6
• Gender responsive: refers to outcomes that reflect an understanding of gender roles and inequalities and which make an effort to encourage equal participation and equal and fair distribution of benefits (Source: UNDP). – Relevant to Principles 1 and 4
• Human Rights: “Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, regardless of race, sex, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, or any other status. Human rights include the right to life and liberty, freedom from slavery and torture, freedom of opinion and expression, the right to work and education, and many more. Everyone is entitled to these rights, without discrimination (Source: United Nations). – Relevant to all Principles.
• Individual profiling: any form of automated processing of personal data consisting of the use of personal data to evaluate certain personal aspects relating to a natural person, in particular to analyse or predict aspects concerning that natural person’s performance at work, economic situation, health, personal preferences, interests, reliability, behavior, location or movements (Source: GDPR, Art. 4(4)). – Relevant to Principles 3 and 5
• Inferred data: personal data that is usually derived or assigned to an individual from interpretations of other data shared by the individual and/or collected through observation of the individual’s use of an online service or device, including connected objects (Source: EU Guidelines on the right to data portability, pg. 10). – Relevant to Principles 3 and 5
• Infrastructure sharing: sharing telecommunications infrastructure (such as towers, high sites, ducts, fibre cables, antennas or transmission components) by competing operators (Source: IFC). – Relevant to Principle 1
• Infrastructure sharing (active): the sharing of active elements in the radio access network such as antennas and radio network controllers (RNC). National roaming is a form of active sharing (Source: BEREC) – Relevant to Principles 1 and 4
• Infrastructure sharing (passive): is the sharing of the passive elements of network infrastructure such as masts, sites, cabinet, power, and air conditioning (Source: BEREC). – Relevant to Principles 1 and 4
• Interoperability: the ability of different types of computers, networks, operating systems, and applications to work together effectively, without prior communication, in order to exchange information in a useful and meaningful manner (Source: DC). – Relevant to Principles 2 and 6
• Legality: restrictions [to art. 19.3 of the ICCPR, regarding the right to freedom of expression] must be “provided by law”. In particular, they must be adopted by regular legal processes and limit government discretion in a manner that distinguishes between lawful and unlawful expression with “sufficient precision”. Secretly adopted restrictions fail this fundamental requirement. The assurance of legality should generally involve the oversight of independent judicial authorities (Source: A/HRC/38/35). – Relevant to Principle 2
• Legitimate public interest: a set of values corresponding to an important legal interest that is necessary in a society, often including, public safety, protection of public order, health and morals, the protection of rights and freedoms of others (Source: ECHR, Article 8(2)). – Relevant to Principle 3
• Meaningful connectivity: a new global standard that measures not only if someone has accessed the internet, but the quality of connection they have (Source: A4AI). – Relevant to Principle 1
• Necessity and Proportionality: any restriction [to art. 19.3 of the ICCPR, regarding the right to freedom of expression] should create the least burden on the exercise of the right and actually protects, or is likely to protect the legitimate State interest at issue. States may not merely assert necessity but must demonstrate it, in the adoption of restrictive legislation and the restriction of specific expression (Source: A/HRC/38/35). – Relevant to Principle 2
• Observed data: personal data that is provided through an individual’s use of an online service or device, including connected objects. Examples include search history, traffic data,location data or heartbeat (Source: EU: Guidelines on the right to data portability) – Relevant to Principles 3 and 5
• Online privacy: a sphere of autonomy in which individuals and communities can explore the Web free from private actors’ and Government’s coercion, control, interference or surveillance (Source: Contextualisation of Lord Lester and D. Pannick (eds.), Human Rights Law and Practice, 2004, para. 4.82 adding the reference to the Web and freedom from interference by private actors.). – Relevant to Principles 3 and 5
• Open access rules: all suppliers are able to obtain access to the network facilities on fair and equivalent terms (ITU). – Relevant to Principle 1
• Open data: “Open data is digital data that is made available with the technical and legal characteristics necessary for it to be freely used, reused, and redistributed by anyone, anytime, anywhere.” (Source: Open Data Charter) – Relevant to Principle 6
• Open knowledge: “Knowledge anyone is free to access, use, modify, and share it — subject, at most, to measures that preserve provenance and openness.” (Source: Open Definition). – Relevant to Principles 6, 7-9
• Open license: a document that specifies that a work (be it sound, text, image or multimedia) is free for anyone to print out and share, publish on another channel or in print, make alterations or additions, incorporate, in part or in whole, into another piece of work, use as the basis for a work in another medium, and other freedoms (Source: Open Definition – Read More: Wikipedia). – Relevant to Principles 7-9
• Open source software: software distributed under terms that include the right to: free redistribution of the source code, access and reuse of the source code, including the creation of derived works to be distributed under the same license (with a series of exceptions only if the license allows the distribution of “patch file). OSS, by definition, must not discriminate against persons or groups, or against fields of endeavor. The rights attached to the program must apply to all to whom the program is redistributed, and must not be specific to a product or restrict other software. Licenses must be technology-neutral (Source: Adapted from OSI; Read More: Wikipedia). – Relevant to Principles 7-9
• Open source technology: see “Open source software”
• Open standard: a formal document that establishes uniform technical criteria, and is developed through an open, consensus driven, participatory process, focused on supporting interoperability (Source: W3C/IEEE; with edits based on Ken Krechmer – Read More: Wikipedia). – Relevant to Principles 6, 7, 8 and 9
• Open Web: this includes two components, a technical and a legal one. Technical: development of web technologies in accordance with the open standards developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), which ensures interoperability across web browsers. Legal: Absence of laws or regulations that restrict people from accessing web content or other web-based technologies over the internet. – Relevant to Principles 7-9
• Personal data: any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person. An identifiable natural person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as a name, identification number, location data, online identifier or to one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of that natural person (Source: GDPR, Article 4(1)). – Relevant to Principles 3 and 5
• Privacy / data protection by design: a holistic approach incorporating technology and policy development that places privacy as a central component at the beginning of every service design process(Source: EU Resolution on Privacy by Design and GDPR). – Relevant to Principle 5
• Public registers: a published list made available online and updated regularly. In this particular context the registers must contain general information on data sharing and/or purchase agreements across the public sector and industry, explaining the types of data that are being shared or purchased, the recipient(s), and purpose(s). Additionally these registers must provide a reference source with general information on data breaches from public and private sources, including the organizations and data categories affected (Source: Inspired by Article 30, Anti-Money Laundering Directive with significant expansion and contextualisation from the Working Group, in particular bringing the types of agreements that are expected to be provided within the registers and the information provided alongside them). – Relevant to Principles 3 and 5.
• Quality of service: in the case of Internet access, quality of service measures not only include speeds, but also delay, jitter, availability, and packet loss (Source: A4AI Qos, GSMA). – Relevant for Principle 4
• Radio spectrum : the radio frequency spectrum of hertzian waves allocated based on guidance from the ITU, and used as a transmission medium for cellular radio, satellite communication, over-the-air broadcasting and other communication services (Source: ITU). – Relevant to Principle 1
• Standard technology: see “Open Standard”
• Sustainable Development Goals: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by the UN in 2015 sets 17 goals: no poverty, zero hunger, good health and well-being, quality education, gender equality, clean water and sanitation, affordable and clean energy, decent work and economic growth, industry innovation and infrastructure, reduced inequalities, sustainable cities and communities, responsible production and consumption, climate action, life below water, life on land, peace, justice and strong institutions and partnerships for the goals (Source: UN SDGs). – Relevant to Principle 6
• Universal service: ensuring every individual within a country has basic internet access service available at an affordable price (Source: adapted from WTO). – Relevant to Principle 1
• Universal Service and Access Funds (USAFs) are communal public funds dedicated to expanding internet connectivity and access opportunities for those least likely to be connected through market forces alone (Source: A4AI). – Relevant to Principle 1
• User interface: all components of an interactive system (software or hardware) that provide information and controls for the user to accomplish specific tasks with the interactive system (Source: ISO). – Relevant to Principles 4, 5 and 6.
• Web accessibility: web technologies that work for all people, whatever their hardware, software, language, location, or ability. When the Web meets this goal, it is accessible to people with a diverse range of hearing, movement, sight, and cognitive ability (Source: W3C). – Relevant to Principles 1,4, and 7-9
• Web technologies: a set of computing technologies that together provide a realization of the “Architecture of the World Wide Web” (Source: W3C). – Relevant to Principle 6