The Civil Society has expressed deep disappointment that the NETmundial outcome document has failed to address key concerns like surveillance and net neutrality. Best Bits, a civil society network, has come up with the following statement. The statement has been endorsed by a number of civil society organisations including EFF, Article 19 and JustNet Coalition, of which SFLC.IN is a constituent.
Civil society closing statement at NETmundial 2014
- We would like to thank the Brazilian government for organizing the Global Multistakeholder Meeting on the Future of Internet Governance.
- We, as a diverse group of civil society organizations from around the world, appreciate having been part of the process.
- However we are disappointed because that outcome document fails to adequately reflect a number of our key concerns.
- The lack of acknowledgement of net neutrality at NETmundial is deeply disappointing.
- Mass surveillance has not been sufficiently denounced as being inconsistent with human rights and the principle of proportionality.
- And although the addition of language on Internet intermediary liability is welcomed, the failure of the draft text to ensure due process safeguards could undermine the rights to freedom of expression and privacy.
- We feel that this document has not sufficiently moved us beyond the status quo in terms of the protection of fundamental rights, and the balancing of power and influence of different stakeholder groups.
