Today, Public Knowledge joins the Association for Progressive Communications and Article 19 in defending digital and cultural rights and the internet in the Americas at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights during public hearings.
Tomorrow, Public Knowledge will host a public debriefing on the hearings as part of its Internet and Human Rights Roundtable series. Delegates from the Brazilian Ministry of Culture and civil society from USA, Mexico, Brazil, and other countries from Latin America will also participate in the informal debrief. With respect to the agenda, the first hour will be devoted to a debrief from the respective countries and the second hour will be open for questions and broader discussion. This event is open to the press.
The following can be attributed to Carolina Rossini, Vice President of International Policy at Public Knowledge:
“As corruption makes the news in Brazil, Mexico, Panama and more, dangerous cybercrime bills are moving forward in many Latin American countries. We have to keep vigilant. And that is why, today, we join our voices with colleagues from the region to express concern on a series of political and legislative maneuvers that put at risk our core freedoms as internet users and innovators.”
The following can be attributed to Melanie Penagos, International Policy Associate at Public Knowledge:
“We will be calling the attention of the Organization of American States on five key issues of concern: the need to design cybersecurity policies with human rights in mind; how digital exclusion denies the cultural rights of those not yet online; the chilling effect mass and targeted surveillance can have on cultural freedoms; efforts to curb cybercrime can inhibit cultural expression; how intermediaries should respect human rights; and that private sector media monopolies and copyright regimes limit cultural diversity. These issues are essential to address for the effective realization of cultural rights in the digital environment.”
Please register to participate in the informal debriefing. You can also read statements Public Knowledge signed on to at the Association for Progressive Communications and Access Now. You can also view the Civil Society Joint Declaration to the Organization of American States on digital security issues in Latin America.
Members of the media may contact Communications Director Shiva Stella with inquiries, interview requests, or to join the Public Knowledge press list at shiva@publicknowledge.org or 405-249-9435.