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Reply to Recommendation | Doc. 14893 | 21 May 2019
Internet governance and human rights
1. The Committee of
Ministers examined with interest Recommendation 2144 (2019) of the Parliamentary Assembly on “Internet governance
and human rights”, which it has transmitted to the Steering Committee
on Media and Information Society (CDMSI) and the European Committee
on Democracy and Governance (CDDG), for information and possible
comments.
2. The Committee of Ministers concurs with the Parliamentary
Assembly on “the key role [of the Council of Europe] in advocating
stronger recognition of the human rights of internet users and their
effective protection on the web, as well as its contribution to
enhanced decision making on internet governance issues” (paragraph 1
of the recommendation). It also shares the position expressed by
the Assembly emphasising the importance of multi-stakeholder dialogue
on internet governance, based on human rights and the principles
of fairness, accountability and transparency.
3. As underlined by the Assembly, the Council of Europe has a
firm human rights approach when dealing with internet governance
issues. This is reflected in the numerous standard-setting instruments
adopted by the Committee of Ministers, such as Recommendation CM/Rec(2007)16 on measures to promote the public service value of the
internet, Recommendation CM/Rec(2012)4 on the protection of human rights with regard to social
networking services, Recommendation CM/Rec(2016)1 on protecting and promoting the right to freedom of
expression and the right to private life with regard to network
neutrality, or more recently Recommendation CM/Rec(2018)2 on the roles and responsibilities of internet intermediaries
and the Declaration on the manipulative capabilities of algorithmic
systems of 13 February 2019. A draft recommendation on the human
rights impacts of algorithmic systems is also under preparation
and should be examined by the Committee of Ministers next year.
4. As regards recommendation 7.1, the Committee of Ministers
agrees that the implementation of the Council of Europe standards
is a priority and it reiterates its call on the member States to
fully implement the standards and guidelines set out in the relevant
Council of Europe instruments. It recalls that the CDMSI is currently
responsible for the supervision and follow-up of the Council of
Europe’s work in the fields of freedom of expression, media, internet
governance and other information society related issues as well
as of personal data protection. In carrying out this task, the CDMSI
pays due attention to developments and discussions taking place
at various internet governance forums such as the UN Internet Governance
Forum (IGF), EuroDIG and to national initiatives. In addition, the
CDDG has been entrusted by the Committee of Ministers with the preparation
of guidelines on e-democracy and the supervision of the implementation
of the priority “Building democracy online” of the Council of Europe
Strategy on Internet Governance (2016-2019).
5. As regards recommendation 7.2, the Committee of Ministers
recalls that the Council of Europe, within the framework of the
Convention on Cybercrime (ETS No. 185), pro-actively promotes an
exchange of experiences addressing the challenges of cybercrime
and access to electronic evidence. Concerning the Assembly’s recommendation
to launch a study on how to strengthen the existing forms of co-operation
in the field of prevention of cyberattacks, the Committee refers
to its reply of April 2016 to Recommendation 2077 (2015) of the Assembly on “Increasing co-operation against
cyberterrorism and other large-scale attacks on the internet”, and
in particular the specific activities undertaken by the Cybercrime
Convention Committee (T-CY). Furthermore, the joint capacity building
programmes of the European Union and the Council of Europe, including
GLACY+, iPROCEEDS, CyberSouth and others, support countries worldwide
with expertise on how to strengthen their capacities to apply legislation
on cybercrime and electronic evidence, as well as enhance their
abilities for effective criminal justice action in this area. Synergies
with the European Union (European Commission, European Council,
Eurojust, Europol, the Fundamental Rights Agency of the European
Union, ENISA – the European Union Agency for Network and Information
Security) are promoted both in the context of the T-CY work, as
well as within capacity-building activities deployed worldwide.
In addition, the ongoing negotiation of an Additional Protocol to
the Convention on Cybercrime, on international co-operation and access
to evidence in the cloud, is conducted in co-ordination with the
European Union.
6. Lastly, the Committee of Ministers wishes to underline that
issues relating to internet governance and freedom of expression
will remain high on the agenda of the Council of Europe in the years
to come. The forthcoming consideration on the terms of reference
of the Council of Europe steering committees for 2020-2021 will
be the adequate framework for discussing specific activities relating
to internet governance and human rights and co-operation between
steering committees and with external partners. In the current budgetary
context, attention will be duly given to the necessity to avoid
duplication.