The United Nations is holding the 11th annual Internet Governance Forum (IGF) on December 6-9, 2016 in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Access Now staff will be there to lead or participate in pre-events, workshops, and high-level meetings. We are also delivering the #KeepItOn petition that asks government leaders at IGF to commit to ending internet shutdowns, a pernicious practice that is harming human rights across the globe.
The IGF is an annual gathering that brings together diverse stakeholders in internet governance, including representatives from government, civil society, academia, the private sector, and the technical community. It was first convened in 2006 by the United Nations Secretary General, and today continues to be an important forum for digital rights advocates around the world.
The 2016 IGF comes at a critical moment for internet governance. Since last year’s IGF, oversight of the internet’s domain name system has been transferred from the U.S. to a global, multistakeholder community through the “IANA transition,” which we strongly supported. In addition, representatives at the United Nations reached an agreement from World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) process, finding that human rights are central for the future of the internet — and extending the IGF’s mandate for another decade.
This year, we’re focusing on issues that span from connectivity to internet shutdowns, to Net Neutrality, to regulating Over the Top (OTT) services, to human rights and the ICT sector. We’ll also lead an open forum session on Access Now, giving an overview of who we are and what we do (here’s our background paper).
If you’re attending IGF 2016 or following along online using the tag #IGF2016 or watching the live stream, here’s a guide to the specific panels and events we’re organizing, co-organizing, or participating in:
Pre-event, Monday, December 5
2:00pm-4:00pm: Digital Rights Litigators, details to follow, Access Now staff, Bilateral 5
All days, Tuesday, December 6-Friday, December 9
Every day at IGF 2016, Access Now Digital Security Helpline staff will hold a Digital Security Clinic. We’re here to help any conference participant with questions or concerns about digital security practices, needs, and capacity. We assist civil society globally, and can provide one-on-one consultations in several languages, or set up future trainings to enable your organization to audit and harden its digital security infrastructure. Location: IGF Village
Day 1, Tuesday, December 6
10:15am-12pm: WS168: Implementing Human Rights Standards to the ICT Sector – Peter Micek, speaker, Workshop Room 7
Day 2 – Wednesday, December 7
9:00am-1:00pm: Dynamic Coalition — Network Neutrality – Luca Belli, organizer, Javier Pallero, speaker, Workshop Room 8
9:00am-10:30am: WS 191 — Are we all OTTs? Dangers of Regulating an Undefined Concept – Brett Solomon, speaker, Ephraim Kenyanito, remote moderator, Workshop Room 1
9:00am-10:00am: WS 234 — Linking Connectivity, Human Rights, & Development – Peter Micek (Access Now) and Mario Viola (Institute for Technology & Society), organizers, Workshop Room 6
10:45am-12:15pm: WS 208 — Inclusive Responses to Intentional Internet Disruptions – Deji Olukotun (Access Now) and David Sullivan (GNI), organizers, Workshop Room 5
12:30pm-1:30pm: Open Forum No. 44 – Access Now: Defending and Extending Digital Rights – Nick Dagostino (Access Now), organizer, Workshop Room 10 – see Access Now background paper
Day 4 – Friday, December 9
11:30am-1:00pm: WS 262 — VoIP Crackdown: Implications for Gov, Telecom & Civil Society – Psiphon and ASL19, organizers, Peter Micek, speaker, Workshop Room 8
First segment 11:30am-1:00pm; second segment: 3:00pm-3:30pm (120 minutes): Main Session: Shaping the Future of Internet Governance: An Open Dialogue Between Pioneers and Young Leaders – Ephraim Percy Kenyanito (Access Now) with the UN MAG and Brazil, Mexico & U.S. Govt
12:00pm-1:30pm: WS 109 — Analyzing the Causes & Impacts of Internet Shutdowns – organizer, SFLC.in (Software Freedom Law Centre, India), Access Now, likely speaker
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