Patrick Penninckx, the head of the Information Society Department of the Council of Europe, addressed the RIPE forum, a network of European internet operators, on May 22 in Reykjavik. One year after the first meeting of a special cooperation format between the Council of Europe and business companies, he presented joint activities and areas of existing and potential cooperation. Speaking for the RIPE cooperation working group, P. Penninckx underlined the importance of a multi-stakeholder approach in tackling human-rights challenges online.

The partnership, established as an exchange of letters, aims at combining Council of Europe’s expertise in human-rights-based policies and partners’ expertise in digital technologies. The framework was launched in November 2017 and comprises currently 16 internet companies and business associations. These companies have progressively involved themselves in multiple Council of Europe’s activities in order to get acquainted with the latest human rights standards and participate in policy making processes. The initial areas of common concern, such as cyber-security data protection, content moderation and e-participatory processes have been extended to include artificial intelligence, counter-terrorism and others.

• See Cooperation with Businesses webpage.