One Internet is the final report and vision of the Global Commission on Internet Governance. It is the culmination of two years of work by the Commission’s 29 commissioners, 45 research advisers, and its two founding partners, the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) and Chatham House. Chaired by former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt, the Commission was launched in January 2014 with the goal of putting forward recommendations to promote a single, open, inclusive, and secure Internet for all.
The Commission’s final report contains a series of concrete recommendations that touch on the rights and responsibilities of all actors who have a role to play in shaping the future of the Internet, including governments, civil society, the private sector, the technical community, and others. Following are 18 key recommendations from the report, grouped according to the four foundational aspects of a robust, healthy Internet: open, secure, trustworthy and inclusive of all.
Key Recommendations:
THE WORLD NEEDS A NEW SOCIAL COMPACT FOR INTERNET GOVERNANCE
The Commission envisions a world in which the Internet reaches its full economic and social potential, where fundamental human rights such as privacy and freedom of expression are protected online. This optimistic future can only be achieved if there is universal agreement to collectively develop a new social compact ensuring that the Internet continues on track to become more accessible, inclusive, secure and trustworthy.
OPEN
- Companies should not become the enforcement arm of governments. Private actors should publish transparency reports that reveal the amount of content being restricted or blocked in response to requests by governments along with how and why it is being blocked. http://ourinternet.org/report#chapter-section—censorship
- Governments should only intercept communications for legitimate purposes, openly specified in advance, as authorized by law, and requiring the application of the principles of necessity and proportionality. Purposes such as gaining domestic political advantage, industrial espionage or repression are not legitimate. http://ourinternet.org/report#chapter-section--government-surveillance-privacy-and-security
SECURE
- Governments should negotiate a list of targets that are off limits to cyber-attacks. http://ourinternet.org/report#chapter-section--why-computer-network-attacks-are-still-uncommon
- UN member states should agree not to use cyber weapons against the core infrastructure of the Internet. http://ourinternet.org/report#chapter-section--why-computer-network-attacks-are-still-uncommon
- States should coordinate and provide mutual assistance to limit damage and deter cyber-attacks, and never shelter those linked to the commission of cybercrimes. http://ourinternet.org/report#chapter-section--responses-to-crime
- Governments should undertake significant campaigns to raise awareness and develop cyber hygiene skills, for example, by incorporating cyber security awareness into primary and secondary education curriculums. http://ourinternet.org/report#chapter-section--responses-to-crime
TRUSTWORTHY
- The standards and protocols of the Internet should enhance privacy, not weaken it. Governments should not compromise or require third parties to weaken or compromise encryption standards, for example through hidden “backdoors” into the technology. Access to data should be legally warranted only where providing access does not unreasonably endanger the security of others’ data. http://ourinternet.org/report#chapter-section--encryption-and-anonymity
- Consumers should be free to choose the services they use, and should have greater say in how their personal data is used by those “free” service providers for commercial purposes. They should not be excluded from using software or services because they have concerns about how their personal data will be used. http://ourinternet.org/report#chapter-section--commercial-data-gathering-processing-and-use
- Because of their impact on human behaviour and opinion, governments, civil society and the private sector need to come together to understand the effects of algorithms on the content available to us online. http://ourinternet.org/report#chapter-section--corporations-as-digital-gatekeepers
- Governments should require that major data breaches be publicly reported. http://ourinternet.org/report#chapter-section--trends-in-crime
- All states should have comprehensive data protection legislation and privacy enforcement authorities with legal enforcement powers. http://ourinternet.org/report#chapter-section--commercial-data-gathering-processing-and-use
INCLUSIVE
- The US government should adopt the proposal put forward by the international Internet community for the transition of the stewardship of the IANA functions, and meet the September 2016 deadline for that transition. http://ourinternet.org/report#chapter-section--signs-of-a-new-and-evolving-multi-stakeholder-approach-for-internet-governance
- Governments should vigorously promote competition among the producers and sellers of devices to help make devices more affordable. http://ourinternet.org/report#chapter-section--affordable-internet-access-devices
- Refugees should be provided with access to the Internet by host governments or as part of an aid package from international donors. http://ourinternet.org/report#chapter-section--inclusion
- Governments should include accessibility for persons with disabilities in their procurement policies for hardware and software. http://ourinternet.org/report#chapter-section--inclusion
- Governments should promote digital literacy programs in schools and within government organizations. http://ourinternet.org/report#chapter-section--human-capacity
- Governments should invest in public Internet access points, especially in schools, libraries and other social service venues. http://ourinternet.org/report#chapter-section--infrastructure-capacity
- Countries must ensure their new generations have the technology and knowledge necessary to participate in, adapt to and benefit from the coming changes brought about by Internet based innovation. http://ourinternet.org/report#chapter-section--being-prepared-for-an-uncertain-future
The Commission’s full report, with all recommendations is available online at http://ourinternet.org/report. For more information on the Global Commission on Internet Governance, including its 29 commissioners and 45 research advisers, as well as many of the research papers that informed One Internet, please visit: http://ourinternet.org/. Follow the commission on Twitter @OurInternetGCIG.
Media Contact:
Sean Zohar, Communications Specialist, CIGI
Tel: +1.519.497.9112, Email: [email protected]
The Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) is an independent, non-partisan think tank focused on international governance. Led by experienced practitioners and distinguished academics, CIGI supports research, forms networks, advances policy debate and generates ideas for multilateral governance improvements. Conducting an active agenda of research, events and publications, CIGI’s interdisciplinary work includes collaboration with policy, business and academic communities around the world.
Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs, is based in London. Chatham House’s mission is to be a world-leading source of independent analysis, informed debate and influential ideas on how to build a prosperous and secure world for all. The institute: engages governments, the private sector, civil society and its members in open debates and confidential discussions about significant developments in international affairs; produces independent and rigorous analysis of critical global, regional and country-specific challenges and opportunities; and offers new ideas to decision-makers and -shapers on how these could best be tackled from the near- to the long-term. For more information, please visit www.chathamhouse.org.
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