[Manila Principles] Fwd: [New post] How not to kill the Internet when fighting terror

Wed Jan 28 15:44:55 PST 2015

Of likely interest.
Best,
Rebecca

   Rebecca MacKinnon posted: "Yesterday I testified at a hearing titled The
Evolution of Terrorist Propaganda: The Paris Attack and Social Media
convened by the House Foreign Affairs Committee's Subcommittee on
Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade. I am not a counter-terrorism exper"
      New post on *Consent of the Networked*
<http://consentofthenetworked.com/author/rebeccamackinnon/>  How not to
kill the Internet when fighting terror
<http://consentofthenetworked.com/2015/01/28/house-hearing-terror-social-media/>
by
Rebecca MacKinnon
<http://consentofthenetworked.com/author/rebeccamackinnon/>

Yesterday I testified at a hearing titled The Evolution of Terrorist
Propaganda: The Paris Attack and Social Media
<http://docs.house.gov/Committee/Calendar/ByEvent.aspx?EventID=102855>
convened by the House Foreign Affairs Committee's Subcommittee on
Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade. I am not a counter-terrorism expert
but I do have a few things to say about how not to destroy the Internet
and violate users' right to freedom of expression and privacy. Below is my
five-minute oral testimony as delivered, with links added. A pdf of my
more detailed written testimony, along testimony of all other speakers can
be found here
<http://docs.house.gov/Committee/Calendar/ByEvent.aspx?EventID=102855>.
Video is here
<http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/58095566?utm_campaign=t.co&utm_source=ustre.am/:3VLjg&utm_medium=social&utm_content=20150128140018>
.

How do we fight terrorism and violent extremism in the Internet age while
not undermining the core principles and freedoms of democratic and open
societies?

Terrorists are not the only people who are using social media powerfully
and effectively. Yesterday I returned from the Philippines where I
participated in a conference
<http://summit2015.globalvoicesonline.org/> of bloggers,
activists, and citizen journalists <http://globalvoicesonline.org/> from
all over the world. People who believe in freedom of expression, the open
Internet, and multicultural tolerance. Many people connected to this
community face serious threats of censorship and imprisonment
<http://advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org/2015/01/24/global-voices-calls-for-immediate-release-of-jailed-online-media-workers-and-activists/>
when they write about subjects or advocate policy positions that their
governments find threatening. In countries like Ethiopia
<http://www.voanews.com/content/court-adjourns-ethiopian-blogger-trial-15-times/2586428.html%20>,
Russia
<https://cpj.org/blog/2014/07/russia-intensifies-restrictions-on-blogs-social-me.php>,
Turkey, Egypt
<http://www.poynter.org/news/mediawire/250100/mediawireworld-3-journalists-in-egyptian-court-on-world-press-freedom-day/%20>,
Morocco
<http://www.amnesty.org/en/for-media/press-releases/morocco-stop-using-terrorism-pretext-imprison-journalists-2014-05-20%20>,
China and elsewhere some have even been charged under broad anti-terror laws
<http://cpj.org/2013/02/attacks-on-the-press-misusing-terror-laws.php%20>
that are habitually used as tools to keep incumbent regimes in power.

In response to the tragic massacre in Paris, the French government has
called
<http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/22/us-france-security-internet-idUSKBN0KV2EK20150122%20>
for UN member states to work together on an international legal framework
that would place greater responsibility on social networks and other
Internet platforms for terrorist use of their services. In addressing the
problem of terrorist use of social networking platforms, the United States
should adhere to the following principles:

*First, multi-stakeholder policymaking.* The US opposes UN control over
Internet governance because many UN member states advocate policies that
would make the Internet much less free and open. Instead the US supports a
multi-stakeholder approac
<http://www.commerce.gov/news/secretary-speeches/2014/10/13/us-secretary-commerce-penny-pritzker-delivers-remarks-internet-co>h
that includes industry, civil society, and the technical community
alongside governments in setting policies and technical standards that
ensure that the Internet functions globally. In constructing global
responses to terrorist use of the Internet we need a multi-stakeholder
approach for the same reasons.

*Second, *any national level laws, regulations, or policies aimed at
regulating or policing online activities should undergo a* human rights
risk assessment process to identify potential negative repercussions for
freedom of expression, assembly and privacy*. Governments need to be
transparent with the public about the nature and volume of requests being
made to companies. Companies need to be able to uphold core principles of
freedom of expression and privacy, grounded in international human rights
standards. Several major US-based Internet companies have made commitments
<https://globalnetworkinitiative.org//principles/index.php> to uphold these
rights as members of the multi-stakeholder Global Network Initiative.
Guidelines
<https://globalnetworkinitiative.org//implementationguidelines/index.php%20>
for implementing these commitments include: narrowly interpreting
government demands to restrict content or grant access to user data or
communications; challenging government requests that lack a clear user
basis; transparency with users about the types of government requests
received and the extent to which the company complies; restricting
compliance to the online domains over which the requesting government
actually has jurisdiction.

*Third, liability for Internet intermediaries* including social networks
for users' behavior* must be kept limited
<https://cdt.org/files/pdfs/CDT-Intermediary-Liability-2012.pdf>.*
Research conducted
around the world <http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0023/002311/231162e.pdf>
by human rights experts and legal scholars shows clear evidence
<https://globalnetworkinitiative.org//sites/default/files/Closing%20the%20Gap%20-%20Copenhagen%20Economics_March%202014_0.pdf>
that when companies are held liable for users' speech and activity,
violations of free expression and privacy can be expected to occur. Limited
liability for Internet companies is an important prerequisite
<http://www.apc.org/en/irhr/i-freedom-nz/intermediary-liability> for
keeping the Internet open and free.

*Fourth, *development and enforcement of companies'* Terms of Service and
other forms of private policing must also undergo human rights risk
assessments.* Any new procedures developed by companies to eliminate
terrorist activity from their platforms must be accompanied by engagement
with key affected stakeholders and at-risk groups.

*Fifth, *in order to prevent abuse and maintain public support for the
measures taken, governments as well as companies must provide* effective,
accessible channels for grievance and remedy for people whose rights to
free expression, assembly, and privacy have been violated.* Thank you for
listening and I look forward to your questions.

The above recommendations were informed by my years
<http://consentofthenetworked.com/> of work on Internet free expression and
privacy issues, the Global Network Initiative's principles
<https://globalnetworkinitiative.org//principles/index.php> and implementation
guidelines
<https://globalnetworkinitiative.org//implementationguidelines/index.php%20>,
standards for Internet and other ICT sector companies currently
under development by the Ranking Digital Rights
<http://rankingdigitalrights.org/> project, and a new report published by
UNESCO titled Fostering Freedom Online: The Role of Internet Intermediaries
<http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0023/002311/231162e.pdf>.

In the Q&A session, in response to a question about why companies don't do
a better job of working with the government and others to take down
terrorist speech, I tried to remind the committee that we have a bit of a
trust deficit between Silicon Valley and the national security community
these days. In the wake of Edward Snowden's surveillance revelations, U.S.
companies are already under fire for how NSA has used them for
surveillance. The lack of trust, accountability and transparency about the
relationship between Internet companies and the US government is a barrier
to constructive dialogue. If I'd had more time to comment, I would have
suggested that an overhaul of this country's surveillance laws
<https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2015/01/effs-game-plan-ending-global-mass-surveillance#add>
might
be a good place to start in building trust between companies, government,
and Internet users. Calling for back doors and opposing encryption
<http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2014/oct/16/fbi-director-attacks-tech-companies-encryption>
doesn't help either.

Here is the full video:
  *Rebecca MacKinnon
<http://consentofthenetworked.com/author/rebeccamackinnon/>* | January 28,
2015 at 5:49 pm | Categories: Globalvoices
<http://consentofthenetworked.com/?cat=366160>, Ranking Digital Rights
<http://consentofthenetworked.com/?cat=243431321>, Speaking
<http://consentofthenetworked.com/?cat=39484>, Video
<http://consentofthenetworked.com/?cat=412> | URL: http://wp.me/p1MwtA-bK

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-- 
Rebecca MacKinnon
Director, Ranking Digital Rights <http://rankingdigitalrights.org/> @ New
America
Author, Consent of the Networked <http://consentofthenetworked.com/>
Co-founder, Global Voices <http://globalvoicesonline.org/>
Twitter: @rmack
Office: +1-202-596-3343
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