G20 Summit: The Digital Future Should Bring People at the Centre - Internet Sans Frontières

On the occasion of the G20 Summit to be held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on November 30 and December 1, 2018, Internet Without Borders renews its commitment alongside the Mozilla Foundation, the Web Foundation, Access Now, and more than 100 organizations signatories of a letter to the G20, and reiterates the call for G20 Member States to promote a digital future that places people the centre.

Published in May 2018, the open letter to the G20 reminds that the development of an inclusive technology to face the challenges of the future of work, and the development of infrastructures to sustain the digital inclusion of a larger number of individuals are the priorities set by Argentina’s Presidency. These can not be achieved without strong commitments and actions in favor of human digital rights, in particular the right to privacy and freedom of expression.

“The priorities set by President Mauricio Macri in the light of the G20’s digital agenda are important, but let us be clear: not placing human rights at the centre of these priorities, in particular the protection of personal data, freedom of expression and the guarantee of access to an open Internet, exposes us to a digital future that reproduces the same technological ills as those currently known.The G20 must show the way, ” said Julie Owono, executive director of Internet Without Borders.

“This G20 Summit is being held in Latin America in a context where the crackdown on online freedom of expression is increasing, and where the absence of regulation endangers democracies. The G20’s digital agenda must have a clear message in favor of human rights, and promote an Internet regulation that is not mostly focused on security and repression of freedoms “, Florence Poznanski, Director of Internet Without Borders Brazil added.

Internet Sans Frontières will take part in a digital campaign on 27 November 2018 at 16:00 GMT to invite G20 leaders to focus their efforts on:

• Meaningful access
• Privacy and data protection rights
• Freedom of expression
• Cybersecurity
• Increased competition