[IRPCoalition] Thank you! and Thank you from me too

Marianne Franklin m.i.franklin at gold.ac.uk
Fri Dec 14 18:24:57 EET 2018


Dear Minda, and everyone on the IRPC mailing list - all 400+ of you.

Thanks Minda for the updates and the opening for me to provide some
follow-up information about the past year of work with, and through the
coalition. Forgive the bullet points for those of you with that
particular allergy!

1) The 2018 IGF meeting in Paris- as Minda notes, this was a busy
meeting for the coalition as we had a booth for the first time and we
could display all the Charter Booklet language editions so far (10 and
counting). And for the booth Minda prepared some effective, and striking
material in the Charter colours. We were able to publish an update
Charter Booklet - the 6th English edition in limited numbers. This is
now the basis for any finalizing or upcoming translations; French being
ready for production pending a couple of items (more on this shortly)
and a Russian translation also now available on the website thanks to
the work of Andrey Shcherbovich, who has also written a separate booklet
of commentary on the Charter.

2) IGF 2018 Sessions: The coalition co-organized no less than three
sessions; a workshop, a workshop-meeting, and a flash session on

- refugee rights
<https://www.intgovforum.org/multilingual/content/igf-2018-ws-346-refugee-rights-and-emerging-technologies-building-digital-futures-for-all>

 - digital cities environments, rights, and sustainability
<https://www.intgovforum.org/multilingual/content/igf-2018-dc-internet-rights-and-principles-sustainable-futures-the-internet-human-rights-and>

- emerging technologies
<https://www.intgovforum.org/multilingual/content/igf-2018-lightning-session-3-emerging-technologies-and-rights-future>.


There is a lot of reporting to be done, and then submitted so I would
like to thank Minda and Hanane in particular for their work in keeping
the record and also doing the work needed to format and edit these
reports for IGF requirements. Rapporteurs are crucial to the public
record and archives of this kind of work. Here too the IGF has been
curating and working with others to ensure that the video, and written
record reflects what occurred on the floor.

Members also spoke at other sessions, two main sessions including the DC
organized main session (Minda), the Human Rights, Youth and Gender Main
Session
<https://www.intgovforum.org/multilingual/content/igf-2018-human-rights-gender-youth>(Minda
and me), and other sessions (Hanane), among others.

3) The IRPC was also represented at the recent Freedom Online Coalition
Meeting in Berlin last month and we continue to work on providing
focused feedback on all the work being done at the Council of Europe's
Committee on Media and the Information Society,
https://www.coe.int/en/web/freedom-expression/cdmsi-meetings

4) New partnerships and projects using the Charter for Human Rights and
the Internet
<http://internetrightsandprinciples.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/IRPC_english_5thedition.pdf>;
As Minda noted, we are thrilled to be working with the Cities for
Digital Rights Coalition (Amsterdam, New York and Barcelona) and to see
the Charter work being applied, put into operation in real-life digital
and networked projects; https://citiesfordigitalrights.org/#declaration

We also have been learning from, and supporting other projects that have
taken their cue from the Charter work
<https://openinternet.global/read-principles> as they make it pertinent
to their respective concerns.

5) And these projects are unfurling all around the world, which is where
the Charter Resource Guide is starting to take shape; an educational
tool put together by Lee McKnight, Kevin Risser and students has become
an important backbone for tracking and mapping the field of human rights
for the online environment and all that this phrase implies.

6) Finally, a word to you all and the current Steering Committee as my
second term as co-Chair comes to an end. On stepping down, and looking
back over the years since the IRPC was established and the Charter
drafted and then launched; it has been an honour to work with so many of
you on this list, and with this SC and those SC members who I worked
with in earlier terms as co-Chair.

This is work that has to think about, and act for the long term whilst
being alert to the immediate and medium term. It is, as our colleagues
with whom we have worked from Amnesty International have noted, about
taking a "slow tech" approach (a reference to the sustainability
priorities of the "slow food" movement <https://www.slowfood.com/>)
rather than "move fast and break things" approaches to ensuring that
existing - and even emerging rights and freedoms - enshrined in national
and international law are being used to protect rather than undermine
our lives online, and the lives of the millions of those who are not
able, or do choose not to go online.

Looking ahead; I remain on the SC for two more years as outgoing
co-Chair according to our governance structure. So too does Robert Bodle
(serving one more year) and Hanane Boujemi (one more year). In this
capacity I look forward to supporting Minda as ongoing co-Chair.

Minda has been an incredible force in the last few years, quietly
capable and focused. She has also being making her mark when she takes
the floor - as the IGF video record and transcript will show. I am
confident that Minda has the vision and the embedded knowledge to take
the IRPC, and the Charter work in particular, into the next phase.

We need a couple of people to join the SC, think with us together and
help shape the future agenda and support Minda in her leadership; also
someone willing to take on the role of co-Chair with the requisite time
spent with the coalition and its work.

Thanks all of you and looking forward to working with you all in the
near future. As internet policy-making agendas shift up another gear,
and innovations and projects focus on AI and other emerging
technologies, we can be confident that the Charter, even in its current
form, is as eloquent and as authoritative,and as relevant, since its
launch in 2010/2011.

Many know of this document, worked on it and other ones since then, and
many others' work has been informed by it. As the UN commemorates 70
years of the UDHR, the source document for the IRPC Charter, we can all
take a deep breath and take stock in one way; some things take time and
work like this does not provide immediate pay-offs but at the end of the
day, it is time taken that counts in the end.

Happy festive seasons and be safe everyone.

Warm regards

MF



On 14/12/2018 12:37, minda moreira wrote:
> Dear all, 
>
> I hope this email finds you well.
> It was great to meet some of you in Paris last month. It was a very successful IGF for the outreach work of the Coalition and new projects such as the Cities For Digital Rights which joined our IRPC Meeting discussion, illustrate the relevance of the Charter and the importance of keeping it alive and thriving. The reports and transcripts of the sessions are now available in the IGF website and we will be uploading full reports in the IRPC website very soon.  
>
> Our ongoing translations of the Charter are also part of the outreach effort, and we are pleased that Russian and French translations  are  ready.  We hope we will be able to have them both available online and offline in the near future.
>
> I would like to thank you all for your contributions this year and in particular to Steering Committee members Catherine and Sahaj who are ending their terms now, and  also to Hanane and Robert who are continuing for another year. It has been a pleasure to work with you all and a privilege to co-chair with Marianne in her final year and to whom I am especially grateful for all the support, dedication and hard work. 
>
> The nominations and the election process for new members for the Steering Committee and a new co-chair are fast approaching; the official call for nominations will be sent out very soon.
>
> I hope that some of you will be interested and able to join as members of the Steering Committee or co-Chair to support the Coalition and its outreach efforts keep the Charter present, relevant and influential.
>
> Looking forward to working with you all in the next year!
>
> Best wishes,
> Minda
>
> _______________________________________________
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-- 
Marianne Franklin, PhD
Professor of Global Media and Politics
Convener: Global Media & Transnational Communications Program
http://www.gold.ac.uk/pg/ma-global-media-transnational-communications/
Goldsmiths University of London
Department of Media, Communications, and Cultural Studies
New Cross, London SE14 6NW
Tel: +44 207 9197072
<m.i.franklin at gold.ac.uk>
@GloComm
http://www.gold.ac.uk/media-communications/staff/franklin/
Chair: Global Internet Governance Academic Network (GigaNet)
Co-Chair: Internet Rights & Principles Coalition (IRPC)

Editor: Human Rights and the Internet Series, openDemocracy
https://www.opendemocracy.net/hri

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