ISF's Schedule at RightsCon 2018 | Come & Meet us ! - Internet Sans Frontières
Wednesday, May 16th, 2018
Paralysis through disruption: Understanding the full human impacts of network disruptions
Julie Owono, Executive Director of Internet Without Borders.
Details: Wednesday, May 16th, 2018; 10:30 – 11:45 am – 204A
The impacts of network disruptions are felt very broadly across all sectors in
impacted geographies. And yet digital rights groups and ICT companies sometimes feel like voices in the wilderness pushing back against these restrictions. This workshop will try to come up with tactics for engaging new actors from across civil society, the business community, and other sectors as advocates against disruption. After initial presentation of the work the presenters and their organizations have done, we will break into groups focused on particular kinds of impact (e.g., humanitarian, security, education, etc.) and ask each group to map out the kinds of organizations that are likely to be impacted by disruptions and suggest how to engage them on this issue.
Human rights due diligence in telecommunications – is the current practice the good practice?
Julie Owono, Executive Director of Internet Without Borders.
Details: Wednesday, May 16th, 2018; 14:30 – 15:45 pm – 205C
The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights indicate that businesses should carry out due diligence in order to identify, prevent, mitigate and account for how they address human rights impacts. Over the past year, telecommunications companies have begun to publish more detailed information about their approach to human rights due diligence, with some even publishing full impact assessment reports. This interactive discussion will review some of the lessons that telecommunications companies have learned from conducting due diligence. We will seek consensus on some good practices and explore whether current practice is consistent with stakeholder expectations.
Shedding light on Internet Blackouts
Archippe Yempou, President of Internet Without Borders.
Details: Wednesday, May 16th, 2018; 14:30 – 15:45 pm – 201B
An Internet blackout happens when the connectivity of a particular region or even a whole country is completely disrupted. This panel will bring together the technical and social perspectives of this phenomenon. We will be explaining how we can gain a technical understanding of how internet blackouts happen, why they happen through a contextual analysis and who are most affected by them. Some of the panelists have first-person experience dealing with and responding to internet blackouts, while others are working on developing a technically sound methodology for measuring blackouts when they occur.
How can platforms preserve pluralism and freedom of information?
Archippe Yempou, President of Internet Without Borders.
Details: Wednesday, May 16th, 2018; 16:00 – 05:00 pm – 205B
Thursday, May 17th, 2018
Africa’s Digital Rights Secretariat: Net Rights Africa Coalition and its prospects
Julie Owono, Executive Director of Internet Without Borders.
Details: Thursday, May 17th, 2018; 16:00-17:00 pm – 201A
The Net Rights Africa Coalition, originally a solution to solving a problem of digital rights in Nigeria by coming up with the globally-acclaimed Digital Rights and Freedom Bill for Nigeria, has now scaled Africa to replicate its successes across regions. In doing more of what it has done in the past, the Coalition seeks to recognize the prominent challenges of digital rights across African regions and work with a cluster of experts to resolve them. The Coalition is also currently being used as a feeder for the annual Digital Rights status in Africa report. This session seeks to rally major experts on digital rights issues in Africa and have them discuss how to make this Coalition a bigger reality and success.
Friday, May 18th, 2018
Julie Owono, Executive Director of Internet Without Borders.
Details: Friday, May 18th, 2018; 12:00-13:15 pm – 201C
Digital rights advocacy is more challenging in some countries than others: authorities may not abide by established human rights principles, and developing economies may lack resources to ensure the implementation of good human rights respecting policies. The Ranking Digital Rights project examines privacy and freedom of expression rights from the perspective of corporate transparency and accountability, generating data and analysis about the policies of private companies. In these contexts, the private sector—especially multinational companies—can sometimes be more responsive to stakeholder engagement and public pressure than governments.
This session will bring together panelists who are working to adapt the RDR methodology to local contexts. Their works cover countries including China, Russia, and regions of Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East.
In this session, researchers and advocates will discuss how RDR’s methodology can be used within the framework of digital rights movements in developing economies and challenging political environments. We seek to highlight core takeaways from RDR for, and connections with, the broader field of transparency and accountability.
For more information on the whole schedule of the RightsCon, click here.
Got a question to ask? Write our Director assistant at adel.b@internetsansfrontieres.org