Canada's leadership in supporting Internet freedom around the world could be undermined by the government’s recently proposed approach to content regulation. GNI expressed concerns about pressures to restrict content and facilitate access to user data in the current approach.
CDT Europe and GNI are pleased to share two reports from a recent closed-door expert roundtable and a public event looking at human rights due diligence in the tech policy sector and the DSA. Watch the public discussion or read the reports from both events.
The protection of the rights of children and adolescents are important and admirable aims, which GNI fully supports. However, as drafted, the proposed "childhood protection law" poses significant risks for freedom of expression and privacy, reflecting a rushed process, and including vague definitions, broad enforcement authorities for the executive, and significant obligations for intermediaries, including content filters.
Given the significant constitutional, due process, human rights, and jurisdictional concerns that the draft presidential decree on freedom of expression and the Internet has generated, the undersigned organizations collectively call for it to be formally withdrawn.
Data localization mandates can impact a broad range of human rights, including privacy, freedom of expression, freedom of association, personal security, and non-discrimination. The workshop hosted by GNI and Freedom House explored the technical and legal dimensions of data localization requirements and featured company and non-company perspectives.
"MR5" regulation in Indonesia, for which implementation is currently postponed, features problematic elements similar to those we have highlighted in other recent digital regulations: broad, vague definitions of companies and content in scope, significant threats of penalties for noncompliance, including to required local company contacts, and exceptional powers to access company data — both metadata and content of communications — including a potential direct access arrangement.
GNI encourages lawmakers to examine the practice of government procurement of user data and support legislative efforts to ensure that government agencies are not procuring such data in order to avoid or circumvent legal requirements that would otherwise apply.
This web page calls attention to legal and technical arrangements that allow government authorities to access data streams directly – that is, without having to request data from, or even notify, the service providers that collect and/or transmit the data. Read more for the full GNI statement, "defining direct access", plus a one-page visual explainer and related resources.
GNI welcomes this opportunity to provide input to UN Human Rights on the preparation of the thematic report on artificial intelligence and the right to privacy. In our submission, we outline risks and opportunities for human rights, recommended safeguards, and legal and regulatory considerations to ensure the increasing adoption of AI technologies contributes to the promotion and protection of the right to privacy.
Today marks two months since mobile Internet was shut down in Myanmar. As nationwide restrictions to mobile Internet and wireless broadband continue, MCRB and GNI again call for equal and unrestricted access to information across all telecommunications networks.
