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Governments

Principle 2

Principle 2

Keep all of the internet available, all of the time

So that no one is denied their right to full internet access


1. By establishing legal and regulatory frameworks to minimize government-triggered internet disruptions, and ensure any interference is only done in ways consistent with human rights law

  1. Engaging in national and international multi-stakeholder dialogues and mechanisms to ensure the maintenance of uninterrupted internet connections and promoting a Web that is not restricted by public policy at borders.
  2. Engaging in transparent and documented coordination with private sector actors to ensure that any attempts to restrict access to the internet are necessary and rely on means that are proportionate to achieving a legitimate end, while minimizing the unintended side-effects of legitimate actions on third parties.
  3. Researching and documenting the cost of service interruptions to the national economy, business and users.

2. By creating capacity to ensure demands to remove illegal content are done in ways that are consistent with human rights law

  1. Passing appropriate national laws and regulations to ensure the effective enforcement of established international treaty rights on the human rights to freedom of expression, of peaceful association and assembly, and the freedom to access information as applied to online speech, behavior, and online information.
  2. Funding research and engaging in multi stakeholder forums aimed at developing future regulation on moderation dispute resolution mechanisms and content take-down, including with the aim of limiting the impacts of misinformation and disinformation, to ensure these are aligned with human rights standards.
  3. Developing mechanisms to ensure all government content take-down requests are grounded in law, properly documented, comply with human rights standards of legality, necessity and proportionality, include proper notification to the poster and potential audience, and are subject to appeal and judicial review.
  4. Developing mechanisms to ensure meaningful transparency for political advertising.

3. By promoting openness and competition in both internet access and content layers

  1. Supporting or establishing independent agencies with oversight, rule-making, and enforcement capacity to ensure internet access providers do not unreasonably discriminate against content, platforms, services, devices or users.
  2. Supporting effective enforcement of competition law at all layers of the network, including through the promotion of interoperability and open standards, as a means to ensure small actors and innovators have a fair chance to develop and successfully deploy content, new online businesses and new technologies.
  3. Funding research to determine the degree and character of competition and/or consolidation online, and its impact.


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