In Brussels on Tuesday 3rd June, the Global Network Initiative (GNI) and the Digital Trust & Safety Partnership (DTSP) hosted “Centering the Protection of Human Rights in Online Risk Regulation,” a multistakeholder gathering of companies, civil society, academics, and online safety regulators.
A keynote presentation by Silvia Fukouka, Principal, Governance and Risk Management Policy at UK Office of Communications (Ofcom) – slides below – was followed by a multistakeholder panel discussion held under the Chatham House Rule with participation from Ofcom, Coimisiún na Meán (Ireland’s media regulator and Digital Service Coordinator), the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DG Connect), CDT Europe, and the Centre for Communication Governance at National Law University Delhi.
Ofcom Presentation on Risk Assessment under the UK Online Safety Act
This event was followed by the third iteration of the European Rights & Risks Stakeholder Engagement Forum, where representatives from very large online platforms and search engines and experts from civil society and academia discussed systemic risk assessments and mitigations under the EU Digital Services Act (DSA). This year’s Forum, which took place across two-days of dynamic workshops and panels, sought to enable meaningful stakeholder engagement and ensure that the protection of fundamental rights, especially freedom of expression, is upheld as part of the DSA.
GNI and DTSP are deeply appreciative of all of the stakeholders who helped us prepare for and participated in this year’s Forum. We continue to believe that multistakeholder discussions are critical to enabling rights-respecting approaches to digital risk management, and ensuring that regulatory approaches do not result in disproportionate or unnecessary restrictions on freedom of expression or privacy. We will be publishing an event report consistent with the Chatham House rule shortly and look forward to continuing to engage on these critical topics.