The Council of Europe aims to trigger a debate on how to empower Internet users´ to exercise their human rights online at the 9th Internet Governance Forum (IGF) taking place in Istanbul from 2 to 5 September.
In an open forum to be held on 3 September, the Council of Europe will address this issue and explore how to apply a Guide to human rights for Internet users which was adopted by the 47 member states of the organisation on 16 April. The forum aims to identify ways to promote the use of the guide by users, governments, Internet operators and civil society organisations.
The Council of Europe is also organizing a side meeting to present and discuss a report on ICANN´s procedures and policies in the light of human rights, fundamental freedoms and democratic values. The report concludes that ICANN´s current rules for new gTLDs do not fully comply with freedom of expression and privacy standards and contains recommendations on how to address this.