Publication
Privacy, free expression and transparency
ISBN: 978-92-3-100188-8
Collation: 139 pages
It is widely agreed that human rights should apply as much online as offline, and that freedom of expression and privacy should be no exception. But there are particular complexities in the online environment.
This publication explores these issues in the context of UNESCO鈥檚 new approach to Internet issues. The approach was adopted by our 195 Member States in November 2015, and is based on the Outcome Document of an earlier conference called CONNECTing the Dots.
Concretely, this means that UNESCO stands for the concept of 鈥淚nternet Universality鈥 and the related 鈥淩OAM principles鈥 which refer to a Human-rights-based, Open and Accessible Internet that is governed by Multi-stakeholder participation.
It is in this context that the current study was commissioned to address very specific rights and associated values.
In the digital age, the challenge is to see how tensions between rights operate in relation to the Internet, and therefore in relation to the ROAM principles.
The purpose of the current research was precisely to unpack some of these issues. In particular, it probes the complex interplay on the Internet between the right to freedom of expression (and information), transparency, and the right to privacy. The research explores the boundaries of these rights, and the various modalities of reconciling and aligning them.
The study analyses the legal framework, current mechanisms for balancing rights, and specific issues, cases and trends. As revealed by the research, traditional laws and regulations for the protection of privacy and freedom of expression often do not deal with digital issues.
Also covered are the interplay and interactions between multiple players 鈥揺.g. the State agents, Internet users, ICT companies, civil society organizations, the judiciary and the security services. Various policy recommendations are made that address both key issues and various stakeholders groups. Privacy, free expression and transparencyRedefining their new boundaries in the digital ageCommunication and Information SectorUnited NationsEducational, Scientific andCultural Organization9 789231 001888
