GDRC-WSIS joint submission to the WSIS twenty-year review process (WSIS+20)

Today, the Global Digital Rights Coalition for WSIS (GDRC-WSIS) published a joint submission to the WSIS twenty-year review process (WSIS+20). The joint submission, authored by eighteen organisations, makes recommendations to anchor the WSIS review process and outcomes in human rights and meaningful multistakeholder engagement.

The submission responds to an Elements Paper published by the co-facilitators last month as a starting point for the ultimate outcome document of the process. An informal consultation is scheduled for 29 July, and the zero draft is expected shortly after. A more detailed roadmap for the process is also expected to be published in the coming weeks.

We welcome the Elements Paper as a positive first step in the process. We particularly appreciate the introduction which grounds the Elements Paper in multistakeholder cooperation and provides clear analysis of changes in the digital landscape since the original WSIS Summits. At the same time, we recommend the following elements be better reflected to respond to the priorities raised by the GDRC-WSIS and other stakeholders during the consultations. We recommend that the zero draft:

1. Ensures a human rights-based and gender-responsive approach, avoiding overly punitive or security-oriented language and anchoring the language in international human rights law and frameworks like the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. This includes recognising the work of the OHCHR and the UN human rights mechanisms as central to Internet and digital policymaking.
2. Guarantees protection against restrictions on access to and use of the Internet and digital technologies, such as Internet shutdowns, online censorship, surveillance or harassment, and reinforces the obligations of all stakeholders to stop using technologies that are fundamentally incompatible with human rights.
3. Recognises the structural barriers and risks that hinder meaningful connectivity and disproportionately impact specific rights-holders.
4. Endorses a multistakeholder approach to Internet governance and establishes the IGF as a permanent structure with adequate and dedicated funding. This includes referring to existing definitions of multistakeholder Internet governance, explicitly acknowledging all stakeholder groups, and incorporating a reference to the São Paulo Multistakeholder Guidelines.
5. Establishes a clear pathway for integrating the Global Digital Compact (GDC) commitments through the WSIS framework, taking into account the proposal by Switzerland to develop a joint implementation roadmap and establish a multistakeholder advisory body to support their combined implementation.

The joint submission is submitted by Access Now, ARTICLE 19, Association for Progressive Communications (APC), Centre for Communication Governance (CCG) National Law University Delhi, CyberPeace Institute, Data Privacy Brasil, European Center for Not for Profit Law (ECNL), Derechos Digitales, Digital Rights Foundation (DRF), Fundación Multitudes, the Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD), the Global Network Initiative (GNI), Global Partners Digital (GPD), the International Center for Not for Profit Law (ICNL), Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), Paradigm Initiative (PIN), Tech Global Institute (TGI) and the World Association for Christian Communication (WACC).

Together, our organisations formed the Global Digital Rights Coalition for WSIS (GDRC-WSIS) to promote a human rights-based, people-centric and multistakeholder approach to the WSIS+20 review process. For more information about the coalition or to submit a membership request, visit here.

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