[IRP] Southeast Asia Civil Society Statement to the Internet Governance Forum 2010

[Chiranuch Prachatai]

Dear friends,Please find the statement from SEA Civil Society as follows,
and if you have any comments or want to sharing thoughts.
We love to hear from you as well.

regards,

Chiranuch

Southeast Asia Civil Society Statement to the Internet Governance
Forum 2010<https://right2net.wordpress.com/statement/igf-2010/>

*(These perspective and recommendations have been reported to Taking stock
of Internet governance and the way
forward<http://intgovforum.org/cms/the-preparatory-process/531>main
session, before the closing of the 5th Internet Governance Forum, in
Vilnius, Lithuania, on September 17, 2010. The note has been drafted
collaboratively and simultaneously online.)*

I?m *Blogie Robillo* and I represent a group of civil society
representatives from our Southeast Asian
countries<https://right2net.wordpress.com/statement/igf-2010/#seasia-civil-society>,
namely Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines. As first-time
participants, we offer the following perspectives and recommendations for
future IGF meetings.

*Firstly, openness* is key to a democratic and open society. Restrictions on
freedom of opinion and expression online, such as state censorship and
physical measures which block and threaten Internet intermediaries, are ones
of the threats to open societies. Intimidation and state censorship
facilitate self-censorship, as is happening in countries like Singapore,
Thailand, and Malaysia, stunting the growth of democracy and openness.

*Secondly, on the matter of access.* A higher priority must be placed on
addressing not only the global digital divide, but also regional and
national ones. Countries like Burma and Cambodia rank the lowest of 200
countries in a World Bank study. Various factors contribute to this, from
politics, economic and social development, poverty levels, and technological
infrastructure. Thus, coordinated international efforts must be made to
address domestic policies that contribute to the digital divide in Southeast
Asia and find solutions to bridge the gap. The digital divide is such that
remote participation is not even a possibility, such as for the people of
Burma, where Internet access and freedom is crucial to their freedoms.

*Thirdly, on cyber security.* The definition must include elements that
address right to privacy and civil and political freedom, recognizing that
levels of democracy and rule of law differ in many states.

An individual?s right over his/her own privacy, including personal data and
information, must not be sacrificed. Information technology when used
without transparent and accountable oversight, could pose threats to
individual rights.

In this regard, any national security policy must not deviate from the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and all international human rights
covenants to which states are a party.

Recommendations to the IGF

   1. Immediately address as an urgent global internet governance issue the
   increasing implementation of laws that suppress and restrict freedom of
   expression and access to information, especially within developing
   countries;
   2. Fully integrate the universal human rights agenda into IGF program and
   engage systematically and regularly with the UN human rights bodies;
   3. Ensure that the IGF policy proposals and recommendations are in line
   with international human rights principles and standards;
   4. Extend the mandate of IGF for another five years in its present form;
   5. Conduct wider outreach to civil society actors from the Global South,
   in particular Southeast Asia and Asia-Pacific and allocate financial
   resources to encourage and support their participations;
   6. Ensure the participations from remote are really integrated into the
   session discussions on-site;
   7. Guarantee that technical discussions during IGFs fully accommodates
   new constituents and stakeholders and incorporate an assessment of policy
   implications on the rights of Internet users and society; and
   8. Develop a plan of action in order to facilitate follow-up and
   monitoring of IGF outcomes.

We would like to thank our Lithuanian hosts for welcoming us to their
beautiful city of Vilnius, and for making our first visit here a wonderful
and eye-opening one. We hope that we will be able to reciprocate this in the
not too distant future. *Achoo, Lietuva! Terima Kasih! Khob Kun Krap!
Maraming Salamat po!*

*Southeast Asia civil society groups at IGF 2010*
E-mail: right2net [at] gmail.com
Web: right2net.wordpress.com
Twitter: @right2net <https://twitter.com/right2net>
Facebook: www.facebook.com/right2net

*Ndaru*
Blogger (Indonesia)
Web: politikana.com

*Sean Ang*
Executive Director
Southeast Asian Center for e-Media (SEACeM)
E-mail: sean [at] seacem.com
Mobile (Kuala Lumpur): +60.166.533.533
Web: www.seacem.com

*Chiranuch Premchaiporn*
Executive Director
Prachatai Online Newspaper
E-mail: chiranuch [at] prachatai.com
Mobile (Bangkok): +66.81.6207707
Web: www.prachatai.com <http://www.prachatai.com/english/>

*Oliver Robillo*
Founder
Mindanao Bloggers Community
E-mail: blogie [at] dabawenyo.com
Mobile (Davao): +63.918.540.0878
Web: www.mindanaobloggers.com

*Chuah Siew Eng*
Publicity Officer
Centre for Independent Journalism
Email: sieweng.cij [at] gmail.com
Phone (Kuala Lumpur): +60.340.230.772
Web: cijmalaysia.org

*Arthit Suriyawongkul*
Committee
Thai Netizen Network
E-mail: contact [at] thainetizen.org
Phone (Bangkok): +66.875.042.221
Web: thainetizen.org
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