UN expert warns against Government control of the Internet

Stuart Corner
Sunday, 05 June 2011 10:25

IT Policy - Government Tech Policy

The UN's special rapporteur on freedom of expression, Frank La Rue, has tabled a report saying that there should be minimal restriction of information on the Internet but warning that Governments are increasingly controlling the Internet because of its potential to mobilise people to challenge the status quo.

Presenting his report to the UN Human Rights Council last week, La Rue said: "In recent months, we have seen a growing movement of people around the world who are advocating for change - for justice, equality, accountability of the powerful and better respect for human rights.

"However, the unique features of the Internet, which allow individuals to spread information instantly, to organise themselves and to inform the world about situations of injustice and inequality, have also created fear among Governments and the powerful.

"Legitimate expression continues to be criminalised in many states, illustrated by the fact that in 2010, more than 100 bloggers were imprisoned." And he warned: "Governments are using increasingly sophisticated technologies to block content, and to monitor and identify activists and critics."

According to La Rue, "There should be as little restriction as possible to the flow of information via the Internet, except in a few, very exceptional, and limited circumstances prescribed by international human rights law. Essentially, this means that any restriction must be clearly provided by law, and proven to be necessary and the least intrusive means available for the purpose of protecting the rights of others."

He also called upon governments to develop a concrete and effective plan of action to make the Internet widely available, accessible and affordable to all segments of the population.

While the Internet censorship debate rages in Australia and communications minister Stephen Conroy presses ahead with plans for mandatory filtering. La Rue, in his report, makes only one recommendation for governments to restrict specific types of content and activity on the Internet: child pornography:

This he says, "is one clear exception where blocking measures are justified, provided that the national law is sufficiently precise and there are sufficient safeguards against abuse or misuse to prevent any 'mission creep', including oversight and review by an independent and impartial tribunal or regulatory body."

However, he calls on states to focus their efforts on prosecuting those responsible for the production and dissemination of child pornography, rather than on blocking measures alone."

Other than this he advocates very little control. He calls on all states to decriminalise defamation. And says also that: "The protection of national security or countering terrorism cannot be used to justify restricting the right to expression unless it can be demonstrated that: (a) the expression is intended to incite imminent violence; (b) it is likely to incite such violence; and (c) there is a direct and immediate connection between the expression and the likelihood or occurrence of such violence."

Internet NZ CEO Vikram Kumar seized on one of La Rue's comments: "cutting off users from Internet access, regardless of the justification provided, including on the grounds of violating intellectual property rights law, to be disproportionate and thus a violation of article 19, paragraph 3, of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights," to claim that "This strengthens our opposition to the recent law changes that allows the NZ Government to introduce Internet account termination as a penalty for infringing copyright via file sharing."