IGF 2023 #24 IRPC Human Rights Law and the Global Digital Compact

The Internet Rights and Principles Dynamic Coalition (IRPC) is a network of organizations and individuals working to uphold human rights in the online environment and to root internet governance processes and systems in human rights standards. The IRPC sets out to promote and provide a space for multi-stakeholder dialogue and collaboration and aims to be an umbrella platform for facilitating collaboration on human rights issues in the Internet Governance Forum process.

In this session participants discuss how the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and subsequent human rights law can guide the further development of the Global Digital Compact (GDC). Based on the mandate created by UN Secretary General António Guterres, the GDC is intended to “outline shared principles for an open, free and secure digital future for all”. The IRPC, with its Charter of Human Rights and Principles for the Internet, has long worked to raise awareness and educate about how we can “apply human rights online” (Our Common Agenda, UNSG). To that end, the session engages participants in an interactive discussion with those who have already long-served to transpose human rights protection and promotion into the digital age, and those emerging civil society activists, government and international organization officials, representatives of the private sector, technical experts, and early-stage academics.

The format of the session is based on the creation of (multistakeholder) break-out groups to tackle specific rights and principles in international human rights law and how these can be better pursued through a renewed global effort, which the GDC represents. The session invites members of the Internet Governance Community to discuss a variety of principles, which are included in the Charter of Human Rights and Principles for the Internet and relevant in the GDC consultations, such as poverty reduction and human development and environmental sustainability (entailed in Principle 4 “Right to Development Through the Internet”) or the “right to access to the Internet” (Principle 1). Aiming to develop a set of recommendations from the participants’ breakout group discussion, the moderator supports the process of channeling insights into a final plenary discussion.

In addition, the session will be used to showcase the most recent translations of the Charter of Human Rights and Principles for the Internet, which make its perspective on the application of human rights online available to more readers around the world. For instance, a translation project of the Charter into the Japanese language is ongoing.

A designated online moderator will coordinate the interaction with online speakers and attendees (by monitoring and interacting with chat interactions and questions) and liaise with the moderator onsite so that there is a possibility of a dialogue between the onsite and online groups. A Question and Answer slot will also be provided. All participants will be able to use this space to interact with the speakers both online and offline.