Internet

This week the European Parliament votes on whether to save the Internet or kill it

This week, on September 12, the European Parliament is going to vote on a bill that threatens to irreparably damage the Internet as we know it. Under the guise of copyright reform, there are are a number of “reforms” that are going to cripple fundamental rights online.

One of them is Article 11 of the bill, which it was desired to ban creating links to press articles unless one previously asks and receives permission to do so. Over the course of negotiations, it was watered down slightly from banning linking to banning displaying snippets of the linked content (a.k.a. quoting the article). Even just this would be a terrible change because it would create a disparity between how quoting online references (limited by article 11) and quoting offline/offline references (one of the cornerstone copyright exceptions in copyright laws worldwide without which the current copyright regimes would be unacceptable).

The other is Article 13 of the bill, which, as it is written now, would mandate the implementation of upload filters by all online platform service providers. This would have profound repercussions on fundamental rights such as freedom of speech, freedom of association and freedom of the press to name just a few. Starting from Article 13, it comes down to absurd consequences such as a de facto ban on memes, a ban on open-source code repositories such as GitHub and so on.

There are other issues too, such as Article 3 which would prevent the data mining of freely available online content.

There are just a couple of days left until the Plenary vote of the European Parliament. The #SaveYourInternet campaign is one of the multiple efforts trying to prevent this disaster from happening.

More details on this can be found here:

New Comparative Analysis on Internet Blocking: Focus on Ukraine, Russia, and Turkey

The world we live in gave us global Internet, universal right to freedom of expression, but also selective application of national laws to online space. When starting the analysis a few questions were set out as a reference point: Is modern Internet still the same as it was constructed by its founders? How much discretion should the governments enjoy when deciding on the limitations of Internet freedom? These and many other collateral questions are subject of heated discussions at all international forums related to Internet governance and human rights. And while answers are not there, Internet freedom is in danger for many years in a row. If proper actions won’t be taken by international community, we may witness even worse decline of freedom of expression in the upcoming years, and very likely in the countries that gave no alarm signals before. There is also a common misbelief that blocking is something possible and feasible in technologically advanced countries. We decided to check whether technological sophistication and censoring policies always go hand in hand, using the examples of Ukraine, Russia, and Turkey.

The comparative analysis consistently unveils legal framework for Internet freedom, specifics of Internet blocking, statistics naming the most hostile governments, results of Internet freedom survey in Ukraine, as well as restrictive practices implemented in the region by Ukraine, Russia, and Turkey. It concludes with a number of recommendations addressed to the governments in order to ensure proper respect and protection for Internet freedom. 

Text is available in English and Ukrainian. 

The comparative analysis “Internet Blocking: Fragmenting Network & Violating Freedoms” was prepared by a non-governmental organisation “Digital Defenders Partners” (DDP) within the framework of the project “Securitization of Internet Freedom” implemented under the support of the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI).

Take the first steps in understanding online and offline freedom of expression

ApTI together with the Internet Freedom Network partners under the Internet Freedom Program launched cases.internetfreedom.blog. It is a project with the purpose of teaching people about online and offline freedom of expression using the European Court of Human Rights jurisprudence. The project is accompanied by a brochure which you can download in .pdf format.

The Internet significantly changed our lives in many respects, including the way we access published information. But, most importantly, it enhanced our exercising of our freedom of expression both by allowing easy access to sources of information and by the liberalization of publishing any kind of information. This transformed freedom of expression, especially online, into something everybody is interested in.

How did the project came to be

First, the subject seems to be of interest not just for professional journalists but for all types of Internet users with various educational backgrounds and, usually, little legal knowledge. Nevertheless, they are all involved in communication on the Internet and they sometimes claim that their freedom of expression is being infringed upon.

Secondly, the decision making process in regard to the freedom of expression seems frequently rushed, without enough time being dedicated to real public debate and evidence-based policymaking. This is particularly true in some countries in South-Eastern Europe. As a consequence, fragments from ECHR argumentations and conclusions can be used as widely accepted references and, thus, as useful tools in debates.

Thirdly, being faced with the huge flow of available information nowadays, many users are looking for summarized, easy to understand information in order to form and opinion.

On the project’s page you can find out what freedom of expression is, what its limits are and why it is sometimes restricted by governments.

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How to understand the project page and the brochure

The presented cases should be use only as a point of reference. The ECHR jurisprudence is always evolving, sometimes in self-contradictory ways. Sometimes it can be criticized because, sometimes, it can have disappointing results for supporters and advocates of the fundamental human right to the freedom of expression. Furthermore, the technological evolution of the Internet can change some fundamental assertions that today we hold as true.

The summarization of the current ECHR jurisprudence comes at a cost that needs to be mentioned. First, the information in this brochure in no way constitute legal advice. Secondly, the editors needed to limit the information they had in order to keep the brochure succinct enough, which is something that some legal professionals could consider as a limitation. Also, for brevity’s sake, we were forced to cover some important aspects only summarily, such as “hate speech” or “protection of journalistic sources”

Article by George Hari Popescu, ApTI Romania, original article in Romanian: https://apti.ro/freex-apti-ro-cazuri-cedo-libertate-exprimare-sectiune-brosura

Romanian MEPs you’ve got mail! Over 100 postcards saying no to link tax and Internet censorship

FotoJetIn the last month, more and more Romanian voice are gathering to send out a clear message to decision makers: We don’t want link taxes and upload filters!

Besides calling and sending letters to Romanian MEPs to delete Articles 11&13 from the copyright reform proposal, EDRi member ApTI organised a series of activities to trigger more public attention regarding the damaging copyright reform proposals. Along with 57 other civil rights organizations, we also signed the Civil Liberties Union for Europe open letter to stop the censorship machine. (more…)

Legitimizing Internet Blocking in Ukraine: To Be or Not To Be?
Photo by James Sutton on Unsplash

Photo by James Sutton on Unsplash

In July 2017, right before taking a summer break, the Parliament of Ukraine has registered two controversial draft laws allegedly aimed at countering threats to national security in information sphere. The bills 6676 and 6688 are almost identical, with the second one having been registered the next day after the first one was recalled from the Parliament. There were also two new authors added. (more…)

EU Copyright Reform Directive debate with MEP Victor Negrescu

Friday, June 23rd, ApTI along with ANBPR (The National Association of Librarians and Public Libraries of Romania) and CJI (The Center for Independent Journalism) organized a meeting about the European Commission’s Directive proposal on the copyright reform Directive. Romanian MEP Victor Negrescu took part in the event.

This came in the context of the Europe-wide effort to mitigate the damage that the EU Copyright Directive threatens to inflict on human rights and on the Internet in the EU. The biggest two problems are Article 11, which would introduce an ancillary right for press publishers, a.k.a. “the link tax” and Article 13, which would mandate all EU-based online platforms that allow user-made content to implement upload filters, under the guise of protecting copyrights. (more…)

On the Verge of ‘Not Free’: Internet in Armenia

The index of internet freedom is on the decline in Armenia. According to Freedom House organization’s Freedom on the Net annual report, internet freedom has been reduced by 2 points in Armenia . Armenia occupies the 30th place in a 100-point scale, instead of last year’s 28 (with 0 being the best score, and 100, the worst.) (more…)