Preparations are underway for the third edition of Digital Citizen Summit, to be held on November 01 & 02, 2018 at India International Centre, New Delhi. Powered by DEF and the Internet Society (ISOC), key objective of the summit was to generate actionable policy-based recommendations to protect human rights online and proliferate access to the Internet. To register for the summit, click here. Apart from this, both DEF and ISOC are also organising the second Community Network Xchange on October 31, 2018 to develop a platform for community networks to work collaboratively for developing policy briefs and capacity building.
The Digital Citizen Summit focuses on themes such as access and inclusion; internet freedom and civil liberties; data privacy, encryption and security; feminist internet; online media, misinformation and fake news. The purpose behind the summit is to create a conclusive platform for youth, women, technologists, academia, private stakeholders, and social media enthusiasts to discuss and share their experiences. It is hoped that the summit will generate actionable policy-based recommendations and lay down steps to promote human rights online.
The Community Network Xchange 2018 being organised at UNESCO office, New Delhi aims to develop a platform for community networks where they can work collaboratively for developing policy briefs, organise training and capacity building, and share their learning and experiences. More than 15 community networks from Asia Pacific will be participating along with other stakeholders – government, academia, private and community network practitioners. Theme of this year’s CNX is ‘Synergies between community networks and community radios in promoting public Wi-Fi access in Asia Pacific countries’.
A leaked copy of India’s draft national e-commerce policy raised many concerns both among industry players and civil society organisations about its protectionist stance and implications on the protection of individual data respectively. Given that private entities are the major service providers in the digital domain and by the virtue of their operations collect vast amounts of user data which often become the basis of pervasive discrimination, the objective of this issue brief is to understand the impact that economic activities in the digital space and the legislative and regulatory framework that attempt to structure them have on the rights of an individual not only as a consumer but also as a citizen.