All over the world – from the Americas to Europe to the Middle East to Africa and Asia – companies in the Information & Communications Technology (ICT) sector face increasing government pressure to comply with domestic laws and policies in ways that may conflict with the internationally recognized human rights of freedom of expression and privacy.
In response, a multi-stakeholder group of companies, civil society organizations (including human rights and press freedom groups), investors and academics spent two years negotiating and creating a collaborative approach to protect and advance freedom of expression and privacy in the ICT sector, and have formed an Initiative to take this work forward.
“I welcome the collaborative approach that the Global Network Initiative is taking to protect and advance freedom of expression and privacy. This new initiative provides a practical framework for business, human rights groups, the investment community, and academia to work together to advance fundamental human rights principles. While an important first step, the success of this and other multi-stakeholder initiatives addressing human rights issues will depend over the long run on whether they bring about concrete changes in the way businesses respond to unwarranted government restrictions, and whether they develop credible systems of accountability to assess implementation of commitments made.”
Mary Robinson
Founder and President
Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative (www.realizingrights.org)
News and Events
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GNI Publishes Key Issues for Consideration in GNI Implementation Dialogue
Posted: Feb 22, 2010
The GNI has established an "Implementation Dialogue" to explore how the Principles and Implementation Guidelines may be adapted to other segments of the ICT industry. To inform this dialogue, the GNI today published a short document setting out some of the key issues that need to be addressed in order to understand how the GNI Principles and Implementation Guidelines can be made more relevant for a wider range of ICT companies.
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GNI Statement for Hearing on Global Internet Freedom
Posted: Mar 2, 2010
On March 2, 2010, U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law held a hearing on “Global Internet Freedom and the Rule of Law, Part II.” The Global Network Initiative submitted a written statement to help inform the Subcommittee’s work. This statement lays out key human rights challenges facing the ICT industry and opportunities for collaboration to promote Internet freedom.
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Global Network Initiative Announces New Executive Director
Posted: Mar 9, 2010
The GNI is pleased to announce the appointment of Susan Morgan as its first Executive Director. As Executive Director, Ms. Morgan will be responsible for continuing to make GNI a leading voice in defending and promoting freedom of expression and privacy in the information and communications technology industry worldwide.
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