As the United Nations continue to refine the Zero Draft of the Global Digital Compact, Derechos Digitales, the Forum on Information and Democracy, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and Research ICT Africa publish their joint contribution to uphold the integrity of the digital space while protecting the pillars of democratic society, independent journalism and the right to reliable information.
The United Nations Global Digital Compact is set to become a universal framework for the management of the digital sphere. Before its adoption in September, a first draft was published on 1 April 2024. While it correctly aims to harness digital technology for sustainable development, the Compact could be better aligned with already existing international frameworks, such as the UN Guiding principles on Business and Human Rights and the International Partnership for Information and Democracy.
With this objective, Derechos Digitales, the Forum on Information and Democracy, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and Research ICT Africa have joined forces to develop a set of recommendations for a Compact which upholds Human Rights and democratic values. These recommendations will be shared to the 52 signatory States of the Partnership for Information and Democracy in an attempt to shape a common vision for our digital future.
The recommendations developed by the four organizations focus on 5 priorities:
- To close the digital divide and build digital public infrastructure
- To foster an inclusive, open, safe and secure digital space
- To strengthen access to reliable information
- To recognise and build upon existing initiatives and avoid duplication
- To ensure the sustained and meaningful participation of civil society, media and academia
Derechos Digitales (DD) is one of the leading digital rights non-profit organizations in Latin America whose mission is to defend, promote and advance human rights in digital environments and, with that, contribute to more just, inclusive and equal societies in the region. Initially focused on Chile, where the organization was founded in 2005, DD nowadays has a regional reach and staff based in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay and Uruguay, constituting a truly multicultural environment.
The Forum on Information and Democracy
The Forum on Information and Democracy, a civil society-led organization supports the implementation of the Partnership principles by providing ready-for-use policy recommendations to States signatories. It was founded by 11 civil society organizations, including RSF, and has published over 600 recommendations to date. Finally, the Observatory on Information and Democracy provides for an research-based assessment of the challenges affecting the global information and communication environment.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
RSF is the leading global organization promoting freedom, pluralism and independence of journalism, in particular by coming to the defense of those who embody these ideals.
Headquartered in Paris, France, RSF comprises a vast international network of 13 offices around the world (incl. Berlin, Brussels, Dakar, London, Rio, Taipei, Tunis, and Washington D.C.) plus correspondents and partners in 130 countries. It has consultative status at the UN, UNESCO, Council of Europe, African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the Organisation internationale de la francophonie.
Research ICT Africa (RIA) is an African think tank that has operated for over a decade to fill a strategic gap in the development of a sustainable information society and digital economy. It has done so by building the multidisciplinary research capacity needed to inform evidence-based policy and effective regulation Africa. RIA’s dynamic and evolving research agenda examines the uneven distribution of the benefits and harms of the intensifying global processes of digitalisation and datafication.