September 26, 2024 | News
Today, we are publishing our 2023 Annual Report, highlighting a year of significant growth and challenges in the evolving landscape of technology and human rights.
2023 was a landmark year for content regulation: we saw the EU pass the Digital Services Act (DSA), the UK pass the Online Safety Act (OSA), and numerous other tech-focused bills proposed around the world. This shift from voluntary to mandatory accountability in the tech sector demanded strategic engagement and rethinking collaboration. By staying true to its core mission, GNI has continued to serve as the premier multistakeholder forum in technology and human rights, advocating for rights-respecting approaches to tech accountability. In 2023, GNI expanded its membership to include a more diverse range of stakeholders and strengthened its regional networks, fostering collaboration and knowledge sharing on a global scale.
Read the Annual Report 2023
The Annual Report provides a comprehensive overview of GNI’s activities throughout the year, including:
- A special feature, an interview with Jason Pielemeier, who has recently completed a year as GNI’s Executive Director. In conversation, Jason provides an overview of how he navigated the year and looks forward to continuing to strengthen GNI’s mission to protect and advance privacy and freedom of expression in the tech sector.
- GNI’s first board meetings in Global Majority contexts – first in Nairobi, Kenya alongside GNI member Paradigm Initiative’s Digital Rights Inclusion Forum (DRIF), and then in San Jose, Costa Rica on the margins of RightsCon.
- An increasingly diverse membership, with thirteen new members from Australia, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Kenya, the Netherlands, Pakistan, South Africa, South Korea, and the USA.
- With the support of members, GNI expanded its policy advocacy to encompass new regulatory trends on online safety, corporate accountability, and data protection, and highlight emerging threats to privacy and freedom of expression that they pose.
- The results of GNI’s fourth cycle of independent assessment process were published in 2023 wherein eleven GNI company members underwent a review of their independent assessments from the GNI Board.
- GNI also participated in several international events as an opportunity to collectively address issues surrounding privacy and freedom of expression and the need for multistakeholder forms of governance in these spaces. GNI also organized several workshops and sessions, including its flagship Annual Learning Forum, on key topics including human rights due diligence, digital rights during conflicts, and meaningful transparency.
In 2024, GNI will continue to help our members inform emerging regulations, while adapting our assessment framework and holding the line against inappropriate government demands and restrictions.