Third South Asian Meeting on the Internet and Freedom of Expression

Pranesh Prakash is moderating the session on "Understanding cyber security and surveillance in South Asia today". Chinmayi Arun is speaking in this panel.

The Third South Asian Meeting on the Internet and Freedom of Expression seeks to address the question of how freedom of expression on the Internet is best protected by taking as its starting point two of the biggest challenges for freedom of expression online in South Asia today: hate speech online on the one hand, and cyber security and surveillance on the other.

The meeting seeks to investigate how these challenges affect freedom of expression on the Internet as well as how they can be addressed most effectively while protecting free speech online. It will also touch briefly on the important question of what kind of Internet governance processes are most likely to ensure the desired outcomes materialise.

A very short history of the South Asian Meeting on the Internet and Freedom of Expression
The first South Asian Meeting on the Internet and Freedom of Expression took place in March 2011 in Delhi, and mapped the many challenges for free speech online in our region, as an input into the report on the Internet and freedom of expression of UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression, Mr. Frank La Rue.

The second South Asian Meeting, in Kathmandu in November 2011, assessed the extent to which policy and regulation in the South Asian countries complied with the recommendations Mr. La Rue made in his report.

This third meeting will now build on these earlier efforts by bringing together experts from civil society, business, the research community and other stakeholder groups from across the region to discuss two of the biggest shared challenges for freedom of expression online in South Asia today in detail: the rising visibility of hate speech on the one hand, and the impact of discourses regarding cyber security and surveillance on the other.

Why focus on hate speech and security/surveillance now?
Since UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression, Mr. Frank La Rue, presented his report on the Internet and freedom of expression to the UN Human Rights Council in June 2011, the complexity of this topic has received growing recognition. However, not all trends that La Rue had pointed out as directly affecting freedom of expression online – from access to the Internet to cyber attacks – are equally important in the South Asian region. Detailed analysis in several South Asian countries has shown that, though Internet penetration rates remain fairly low, most countries do possess, for example, the political will crucial to improve these figures. The two trends that seem to be of greatest concern in our region are that of the fight against hate speech, and the impact on freedom of expression of cyber security and surveillance measures. The latter is foregrounded for a variety of reasons ranging from the safety of individual users to national security.

Incidentally, across the region, as in many parts of the world, hate speech and cyber security have also been among the most important reasons governments have quoted to justify greater government control over the Internet. At the national level, this has at times manifested itself through the approval and implementation of legislation that has far-reaching consequences for freedom of speech online, without consulting many of the stakeholders who are affected at any point in time. At the global level, we see a growing number of proposals by governments that would effectively expand their collective powers to regulate the Internet, though with varying levels of involvement of other stakeholders envisioned.

Yet while governments' intentions when imposing censorship or approving surveillance measures may at times be in doubt, it is difficult to deny that the Internet has facilitated a new proliferation of hate speech, as well as that it has thrown up new security challenges that couldn't even be imagined before.

It is therefore our contention that the challenges of hate speech online and of ensuring cyber security in our region are real, and need to be addressed head-on if we are to strengthen and protect the right to freedom of expression online. For this reason, the meeting seeks to investigate both the precise nature of these challenges and what Internet governance mechanisms we need to evolve to ensure that they can be addressed most effectively whilst upholding and strengthening the right to freedom of expression. If we are to take the challenges the threats of hate speech and cyber security policy embody seriously yet also aim to uphold and strengthen the right to freedom of expression online, then what are the solutions we require? And who will need to be responsible for implementing them?

Participants
Taking into account the many parallels in the shape problems of hate speech and cyber security and surveillance take across the South Asian region as a result of shared cultures and historical legacies alike, participants will be invited from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Moreover, as solutions to these problems will invariably require collaboration among various stakeholders in the Internet governance field in order to be effective, participants will be drawn from a wide variety of stakeholder groups, including civil society, business, government, academia and the media from across the region. In this way, the meeting hopes tofacilitate a South Asia wide, multistakeholder dialogue, to learn, discuss and evolve more detailed thinking on these topics for one and a half days. The meeting will come to an end with a public event at the end of the second day.

The meeting will use a variety of formats, including key note presentations, panel discussions, case studies and small group conversations.

Agenda

January 14, 2013

January 15, 2013

List of Participants

1. Aditya Rao, Senior Associate, Amarchand Mangaldas, India
2. Ahmed Swapan, Executive Director, VOICE, Bangladesh
3. Amrit Pant, General Secretary, Computer Association of Nepal & President, Information Technology Development Society, Nepal
4. Anja Kovacs, Project Director, Internet Democracy Project, India
5. Babu Ram Aryal, President, Internet Society, Nepal Chapter, Nepal
6. Binaya Guragain, Coordinator of Programs, Equal Access, Nepal
7. Bishakha Datta, Wikimedia Foundation Board Member & Co-founder, Point of View, India
8. Chinmayi Arun, Assistant Professor, National Law University Delhi & Fellow, Centre for Internet and Society, India.
9. Dixie Hawtin, Project Manager for Digital Communications and Freedom of Expression, Global Partners and Associates, UK
10. Farhana Rumki, Associate Programme Coordinator, VOICE, Bangladesh
11. Kailash Prasad Neupane, Chief of Legal Section, Spokesperson, Secretary and Registrar, Nepal Telecommunications Authority, Nepal
12. Khairuzzaman Kamal, Founder Secretary General of Bangladesh Manobadhikar Sangbadik Forum & Senior Reporter at Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, Bangladesh
13. Khawaza Mainuddin, Executive Editor, ICE Business Times Magazine, Bangladesh
14. K S Park, Executive Director, the PSPD Public Interest Law Center & Professor, Korea University Law School, South Korea
15. Mariyath Mohamed, Journalist, Minivan News, Maldives
16. Mohammad Nazmuzzaman Bhuian Emon, Associate Professor, Department of Law, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh
17. Mohammad Shahriar Rahman, Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Asia Pacific & Head, Center for IT Security and Privacy, Bangladesh
18. Moiyen Zalal Chowdhury, Community Manager, Somewhere.In & Norad Fellow,Bangladesh
19. Monjurul Ahsan Bulbul, Chair, International Press Institute & Editor-in-chief and CEO,Boiskakhi TV, Bangladesh
20. Pranesh Prakash, Policy Director, Centre for Internet and Society, India
21. Prasanth Sunganathan, Counsel, Software Freedom Law Centre, India
22. Rezaur Rahman Lenin, Research Fellow, VOICE, Bangladesh
23. Richa Kaul Padte, Writer, India
24. Rohan Samarajiva, Chair and CEO, LIRNEasia, Sri Lanka
25. Saleem Samad, Columnist & Correspondent at Reporters without Borders, Bangladesh
26. Salimullah Khan, Writer and Professor, Stamford University, Bangladesh
27. Sana Saleem, Director, Bolo Bhi, Pakistan
28. Santosh Sigdel, Advocate and Vice President, Internet Society, Nepal Chapter, Nepal
29. Shahzad Ahmed, Country Director, Bytes for All, Pakistan
30. Shehla Rashid Shora, Project Officer, Internet Democracy Project, India
31. Shehnaz Banu, Media and Communication Officer, Alliance for Social Dialogue, Bangladesh
32. Soheil Zafar, Editor, Unmochan Blog & TV Producer and Researcher, 71 Television, Bangladesh
33. Suman Lal Pradhan, CEO, Websurfer, Nepal
34. Sushma Luthra, Event Coordinator, India
35. Syeda Fedous Jana, Managing Director and Co-Founder of Somewhere.In, Bangladesh
36. Tahmina Rahman, Director Bangladesh and South Asia Region, Article 19, Bangladesh
37. Vasana Wickremasena, Executive Director, Centre for Integrated Communication Research and Advocacy, Sri Lanka