After all, that is the vision of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), whose +20 outcomes will be finalized by UN member states this week (December 16–17).
Both at the WSIS+20 High-Level Meeting in July in Geneva and in the negotiations involved in drafting the outcome document in the months since, WACC and its partners have emphasized the centrality of human rights in all aspects, and by all actors, of the Information Society.
With that in mind, there are some elements in the last published version of the draft document that civil society coalitions have welcomed.
The Global Digital Rights Coalition (GDRC), in their November 20 statement on Revision 1 WSIS+20, welcomed elements of the document which reaffirm “the value and principles of multistakeholder engagement,” anchor the WSIS in international human rights law and UN systems, uphold “the independence and diversity of media,” and clarify “the obligation of States and the responsibilities of the private sector to uphold human rights in all aspects of the governance of digital technologies.”
Just as clearly, though, much needs to be strengthened for a clear people-centric path forward. The GDRC continues to call for strengthened language and explicit references that would, among other things:
- Prohibit the use of digital technologies fundamentally incompatible with human rights.
- Emphasize the duty of the private sector to conduct human rights due diligence on their products.
- Restore language on the urgent need to counter and address all forms of violence.
- Strengthen references to information and democratic processes by referring explicitly to social media and AI-generated or manipulated content.
- Respect and protect human rights throughout the life cycle of AI systems.
Will the final approved document be strengthened or weakened in the end? Will adherence to human rights – not to mention environmental safeguards – be enshrined in the text and affirmed by member states, or will economic interests and political control win the arguments?
In either case, all of us in civil society will need to be prepared for the implementation of both the 2024 Global Digital Compact and the outcomes of WSIS+20. With privately driven technological advances far outstripping the ability of states to control, intense engagement is required of civil society in pressing for accountability, transparency, human rights, and economic and environmental justice.
In their response to the Zero Draft in October, the Global Digital Justice Forum stated:
“An optimistic approach can still be pragmatic but only if attentive to the unease and aspirations of those in the margins; those hopeful of a better digital tomorrow. This must first honestly acknowledge that a profit-centric technological revolution has failed to open up pathways for a people-led, inclusive, and development-oriented information society. This mainstream digital paradigm must be replaced by an alternative public technological paradigm that distributes the innovation dividends of the data and AI revolution.”
If we truly want a people-centred, inclusive, and development-oriented information society, we will need all our voices and actions to ensure it happens.
Photo: ITU/Pierre Albouy, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0