Through research, advocacy and debate, the Internet Democracy Project seeks to unearth both the changes wrought by technology to democracy-as-we-know-it and the implications of these changes for our visions of progessive social change if they are to remain relevant in the digital age.
In preparation for the Stockholm Internet Forum, Anja Kovacs was asked to submit a written contribution, detailing what she believes is the biggest emerging threat to online freedom. Here is what she wrote.
“While it could be argued that a range of new threats to online freedom have arisen in recent years, there is one issue in particular I would like to highlight in this written contribution: the ready acceptance by many actors in business and civil society of States’ insistence on their sovereign right to control the Internet, even if it is often patently clear that existing laws – and increasingly also new ones – are inadequate to deal with the new context and challenges that the Internet brings.
While the democratising potential of the Internet may very much continue to be a reality, even democratic elected governments all over the world seem to be hard at work to thwart that potential. Yet our willingness to accept sovereignty as a justification for these efforts seems considerable. Read the rest of this entry »
On 19 April, Anja Kovacs from the Internet Democracy Project participated in a panel discussion at the Stockholm Internet Forum on Internet Freedom for Global Development. The panel addressed emerging threats to online freedom and asked whether we are prepared for the evolving future. Other speakers on the panel were John Morrison from the Institute for Human Rights and Business, Richard Allan from Facebook, Sarah McKune from Citizen Lab and Lee Hibbard from the Council of Europe. Watch the video of the panel discussion below.
Member of Parliament Shri P. Rajeeve has called for the annulment of the IT Rules in Parliament. But what exactly is the problem with these rules? And how could they affect you? Watch the video to know more. Take action by writing to or calling your MP, by signing the petition, and by sharing the video with your friends on Facebook, Twitter and via email!
At the Internet Democracy Project, we have been extremely pleased that Shri P Rajeeve, CPI(M) MP in the Rajya Sabha from Thrissur, Kerala, has filed a motion to call for the annulment of the Intermediary Guidelines Rules 2011 (or for short, the IT Rules). Since April 2011, when they were first issued, a lot of our work has focused on raising awareness about the grave shortcomings and potential dangers of those rules. We salute Shri Rajeeve for this important initiative, and encourage you to support it by asking your MP to vote in favour. You can register your support by signing the petition: www.it2011.in or by writing to your MP here: http://bit.ly/J91ZcV. Read the rest of this entry »
Why the IT Rules are a threat to the Internet as you know it
Ask your MP to annul the IT Rules 2011 now!
image courtesy www.saveyourvoice.in
#MakeBlog
On 25 February 2012, the Internet Democracy Project organised Make Blog Not War – A Freedom of Expression Training for Bloggers. If you would like to get a glance of what we did that day, have a look at the agenda. More importantly, however, you can meet all the #Makebloggers! Click here to meet them.
