News from the World Summit on the Information Society
Prepcom II
Geneva, February 2005
Civil Society groups from around the world are meeting from February
14-25, 2005 at the World Summit
on the Information Society (WSIS) Prepcom II, the second meeting
in preparation for the November 2005 Summit. Members of civil
society are intervening in the UN Working Group on Internet Governance
and the governmental Plenary, urging national governments in the
Plenary to improve their implementation plan and to safeguard
human rights in Tunisia where the Summit will be held, and working
to promote full and effective civil society participation in decisions
concerning the information society.
Background
The first phase of the World Summit involved the adoption of a
Declaration
of Principles and a Plan of Action. The documents were shaped
at preparatory conferences by governments, the private sector
and civil society representatives. Civil society was dissatisfied
with the direction taken by the government Plan of Action and
drafted
their own Civil Society Declaration and Civil Society Benchmarks
documents. Civil society continues to believe that the governmental
implementation plan does not adequately protect free expression,
is narrowly focused on Internet policy, does not create enough
possibilities for development, and over emphasizes law enforcement
interests.
As a result of the first phase and under mandate of the Summit
Action Plan, the UN established the Working
Group on Internet Governance (WGIG) and the Task
Force on Financing Mechanisms. Civil society has been greatly
involved in the formation of the WGIG, shaping its membership
and its transparent, democratic processes. Civil society representatives
now actively participate as members of the WGIG (making up almost
1/3 of the 40 member group). The Task Force on Financing Mechanisms
has been relatively closed and undemocratic, though civil society
representatives continue to work to shape the report
issued by the Task Force and to publicize alternative financing
mechanisms.
At the preparatory meeting held in Hammamet, Tunisia in 2004,
the WSIS Secretariat established a Group
of Friends of the Chair (GFC) to "prepare a document
to serve as a basis for negotiations in PrepCom-2, taking into
account, as appropriate, the outcomes of relevant thematic, regional
and other WSIS-related meetings." The GFC has just issued their
report,
which includes initial plans for a steering group to continue
after the November 2005 Summit. In addition to coordinating plans
for participation in the November Summit, civil society now also
must concentrate on the work of the GFC and the proposed post-Summit
plans.
The February 2005 Prepcom II
WGIG Interventions
Civil society members both on the Working Group on Internet Governance
and in civil society Caucuses are shaping the understanding of
Internet Governance, the issues that are involved, and the organizations
that have significant roles in such governance. The Internet
Governance Caucus delivered a statement to the WGIG during
the open consultation.
The WGIG recently
posted 21 issue papers that they drafted to inform one another
on various issues they deemed related to Internet Governance.
Members of civil society and some caucuses have submitted
comments to the WGIG on the Issue Papers. For example, the
Privacy and Security Caucus has commented on the Privacy issue
paper, the Network Security Issue paper, and the Cybercrime issue
paper. Groups such as the Council of Europe are working to promote
aggressive cyber-security measures in Internet Governance which
threaten such human rights as privacy and freedom of expression.
The Privacy and Security Caucus statement points out inaccuracies
in the issue papers drafted by the working group.
The WGIG has just issued its report
of preliminary findings (pdf).
Plenary Interventions and Civil Society Panels
Members of civil society have made various interventions on WSIS
Implementation during the Plenary sessions of Prepcom II including
statements by:
- the European Regional Caucus,
- the Gender Caucus,
- the CRIS Campaign, and
- the Community Media Working Group
The International Association for Media and Communication Research
has also posted
their contribution to Prepcom 2 (doc).
During the Governmental Plenary Session focusing on the Working
Group on Internet Governance, the following civil society caucuses
all presented statements:
* Internet Governance Caucus
* Human Rights Caucus
and
* Privacy and Security
Caucus
The Civil Society Human Rights Caucus also held a panel discussion
to highlight that human rights are seen as central to democracy,
the rule of law and sustainable development. This caucus is working
to ensure that governments live up to the commitments they made
to human rights and development goals, that the human rights principles
are actually implemented and enforced.
Webcasting of WGIG Meeting and Prepcom II Plenary
WGIG webcast
of February 14-17 Public Consultations »
The ITU
webcast of Prepcom II »
Civil Society Meeting Webcasting and Podcasting
February 14 Civil Society Bureau Meeting Audio »
February
15 Civil Society Plenary Meeting Audio »
February
16 Civil Society Panel on Financing Meeting Audio 1 »,
Audio
2 », Audio
3 »
February
22 Civil Society Briefing »
February
25 Statement of African Caucus »
February
25 Statement of Indigenous Caucus »
Announcements
The WGIG has just issued its report
of preliminary findings (pdf). The next meeting of the Working
Group on Internet Governance will be held in Geneva on April
18-20, 2005.
The Privacy and Security Caucus statement, Privacy
as an Essential Human Right, was presented to the intergovernmental
plenary in Arabic.
The WSIS Group of Friends of the Chair (GFC) has issued
their report for Prepcom II, which contains plans for post-WSIS
follow-up including a proposed "team of stakeholders"
to work on implementation.
The UN ICT Task Force has proposed the concept of a Global
Alliance for ICT Policy and Development. There was an open
consultation on the Global Alliance, on Monday February 21, from
10:00-13:00 in Salle XXI, Palais des Nations, Geneva. Read the
CONGO
statement on the proposed Global Alliance on Rik Panganiban's
blog.
Reporters Without Borders/Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) has
issued
five recommendations for online freedom of expression. In
addition, they have coordinated a group of bloggers and cyberdissidents
sharing of their experiences
with censorship and imprisonment.
The International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX) Tunisia
Monitoring Group, a group of 13 national, regional and international
freedom of expression organization, has just issued a 60 page
report on the state of freedom of expression in Tunisia, having
returned from a fact finding mission there last month. The group
expressed grave concern about the poor state of freedom of expression
in Tunisia, host country for the WSIS which is to be held in Tunis,
November 2005. The report is online in both English
and French.
The ITU has released
a document on the format of the Summit in Tunisia.
The Government
of India's Formal Comments (doc) submitted to the WGIG highlight
some of the concerns raised about ICANN.
News Stories
WSIS - Paving the Way to Democratic Communication?, Highway
Africa News Agency (Grahamstown), February 24, 2005.
Criticism of Tunisia Not Allowed At UN Meeting, Highway Africa
News Agency (Grahamstown), February 24, 2005
Read civil society blogs from WSIS Prepcom II »
WSIS News at worldsummit2005.org »
February 2005