Internet Freedoms

The right to privacy and freedom of expression apply online just as they apply offiline. These are very precious rights because as well as protecting individuals, they also protect society as whole. Democracy, culture and access to knowledge are safeguarded because we have these two rights. These rights online are threatened by any proposals to block content or conduct surveillance. Such threats can come from governments or from private corporations. This section will discuss ways in which human rights online can be valued and protected.

If you are interested in how Internet freedoms may be influenced by policy, you may like my book The Closing of the Net .

If you are interested in copyright policy, you may like my previous books A Copyright Masquerade: How Corporate Lobbying Threatens Online Freedoms and The Copyright Enforcement Enigma - Internet Politics and the ‘Telecoms Package’

Macron-May Internet deal: necessary measures or prior restraint?

Monica Horten

Published on 28 July 2017

How far does the French-British action plan against terrorism on the Internet impose new liabilities on Internet companies? Where does an upload filter become prior censorship?

When Theresa May met the French President Emmanuel Macron in June this year they agreed a joint proposal to suppress terrorist content content on the Internet. They vowed to work together to block content, freeze user accounts and get access to encrypted content. This would involve stay down measures and access to personal data behind IP addresses. The plan has received little coverage, no doubt overshadowed by much bigger geo-political agendas. In this post, I consider how the Franco-British Action Plan puts pressure on Internet intermediaries and raises questions for human rights online.

Why we should not let terror destroy online values

Monica Horten

Published on 15 June 2017

In seeking a response to terrorism, how can we protect our democratic values online as well as offline? Theresa May says there should be no safe spaces for online extremism, but attacking online platforms, and laying the blame entirely at their feet, is at best unhelpful and fundamentally problematic. How should we, as a society, ensure safeguards against the unintended consequences of such measures?

Network consolidation, counter-terrorism, Sony hack – Internet policy game-changers for 2015?

Monica Horten

Published on 03 January 2015

In the 800^th anniversary year of Magna Carta, what of our free speech rights?

As we begin 2015, let’s remind ourselves that this year is the 800^th anniversary of Magna Carta – the Great Charter that first established rights and on which later charters of human rights have been built. In 2015, we are seeing more and more threats to those hard won rights by various interest groups (corporate and non-corporate) who want to block and take control of our communications systems that have been established over the Internet in the past two decades or so. It does look like 2015 is going to be critical year for the protection of those rights.