Towards the IRP Charter 2.0: Human Rights & Principles for the Internet in Practice

This meeting will consolidate the outcomes of two IRP-hosted workshops at Bali (#99, #276) in order to continue the work on the Charter of Human Rights and Principles (version 2.0). The Beta version of the IRP Charter and its Ten Principles were launched in 2010-11 in the year following the Vilnius IGF (www.internetrightsandprinciples.org). Since then the charter has played a formative role in progress made in putting rights and principles on internet governance agendas as well as that of the international human rights community.
The IRP Coalition has been active in promoting and deepening discussions on ways to roll out human rights and principles for the internet in practice using the IRP Charter as a framework and inspirational source for work that straddles all stakeholders and internet governance institutions. The 2012 UN Human Rights Council Resolution was a significant recognition in the latter case and the inauguration of a Working Group on Internet Principles for the Bali IGF program at the MAG UNESCO WSIS+10 meeting in February 2012, was another milestone. Members have also played a formative role in mobilizing around the recent PRISM affair, contributing to the Best Bits coalition letters to the UN HCR and US Congress respectively. Coalition members, and their work on the IRP Charter (Beta version) has also been formative in the Council of Europe Compendium of Existing Rights for Internet Users project, due to be launched this October. A wider awareness of the IRP Charter within IG communities is still uneven however. As initiatives to implement principles for internet governance gather momentum the need to ensure that human rights, in general and in specific case and scenarios, remains an integral part of these moves remains important. For these reasons, the IRP Coalition Steering Committee in consultation with coalition members is undertaking to ‘upgrade’ the current IRP Charter in so far as those sections that need additional attention. The Ten Principles will remain as an outreach and educational tool.
The Charter 2.0 project that is the focus of this DC meeting at Bali requires as much input from stakeholders as possible. The outcomes of the discussions will be recorded by a rapporteur and incorporated into the drafting group work. This meeting thereby also aims to move outreach and awareness of the IRP Charter up another level by inviting speakers who have recently become aware of the coalition’s work, from governments and technical communities in particular.
Outputs: The meeting will provide substantive suggestions and material for the Charter 2.0 working group to incorporate into the redrafting and then wider consultation process as lead-up to its launch in early 2014 (At the EuroDIG and other events). The meeting will also provide an overview of where the IRP Coalition needs to make more concerted efforts to increase the profile of the IRP Charter with UN Human Rights bodies, NGOs, as well as emerging rights-based activism amongst digital activist communities (e.g. Free/Open Source Software, the Youth Forum).
The meeting format will be an open session, based on the ‘open microphone’ approach. This is one in which a number of speakers will participate from the audience rather than as a panel in front of the room. The aim is to generate as much interaction from the floor as possible. Speakers will be providing specific input based on the sections of the IRP Charter they consider need attention. A preparatory meeting before Bali will establish the main points participants want to raise and also set a general script for the meeting. The last part of the meeting will turn to IRP Coalition business, a report on the past year of activities and output and election of officers.