IRIS at the 7th Brazilian IGF

Between 14 and 17 November, the VII Fórum da Internet no Brasil (FIB) was held in the city of Rio de Janeiro/RJ. Organized annually by the Comitê Gestor da Internet no Brasil (CGI.br), the event serves as preparation for the Internet Governance Forum (IGF), which is an initiative of the UN General Secretariat. The purpose of both events is to promote the multistakeholder debate on issues related to the Internet and Network Governance in order to foster digital inclusion and the development of technologies that permeate the online world in a conscious way.

Throughout the four days of the event, several discussions  were made simultaneously by exhibitors from the government, technical-scientific, business and NGOs. The themes of the exhibitions are quite diversified: from those present in our daily lives, such as the Marco Civil da Internet, to technologies which implementation has not yet been consolidated, but are in exponential development, such as Blockchain. The debates were permeated by issues related to digital exclusion in Brazil and its connection with social and ethnic issues in the country. Points were also raised on the development of legislation and a regulatory authority for data protection, jurisdictional issues in internet conflicts, the impact of fake news for the 2018 elections, and government control over the Internet.

IRIS was present at the Forum. Its members proposed two of the twenty-one workshops approved by the organization of the event. In the first one, Pedro Vilela participated in the “Blockchain for Public Interest” panel, which discussed the possibilities of implementing this technology in public services as a way to increase the transparency, trust and efficiency of these services. In addition, the experiences of applying this type of solution in different countries were discussed, and possible regulatory obstacles and difficulties that could be replicated in Brazil were pointed out.

The second workshop was attended by Luiza Brandão, responsible for the report, and Lucas Anjos, who discussed, together with debaters representing business, governmental and scientific stakeholders, the topic of Jurisdiction and the Internet Governance in a context of globalization. The panel had different and complementary points of view. This was due both to its multistakeholder character and to the basic formation of its debaters, from geography to corporate, private international and constitutional law. As for the perspective addressed by IRIS’ researchers specifically, Jurisdictional issues were discussed in conflicts involving the Internet, going through the European and American contexts, concrete cases – such as Microsoft and Google cases – besides considerations about a deterritorialization of data. The IRIS approaches to this Workshop are a consequence of the research developed by the Institute and that are available here in the blog. In addition, all the Workshops are available to be assisted in the channel of the NIC.br (Information Center and Coordination of the Point BR) in YouTube.

IRIS’ performance in the event did not stop there. We also had the participation of Luíza Brandão and Lucas Anjos in the Day-Zero of the event. The panel was organized by the Internet Governance Research Network and IRIS members submitted the article: “The protection of users of digital applications: between the election of forum and access to justice”. The validity of such clauses have been questioned because they normally elect a different jurisdiction from the user’s one  and are provided in very complex and extensive terms of use, scenario that limit the access of users to justice. Finally, our staff remained mobilized throughout the event, participating in the workshops and interviewing panelists for the production of audiovisual content, which will be released soon on our YouTube channel.

Finally, it should be noted that this year, the FIB was held in particular to hold a public hearing about the CGI structure and governance model of the Brazilian Internet, which happened on November 17. In August, the Government, in a figure of the Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia, Inovação e Comunicações (MCTIC), opened a public consultation on the platform Participa.br to address the same theme and aiming to update the decree that regulates the Comitê Gestor, Decree 4,829/03. However, considering the process of formulating this public consultation as a unilateral conduct and given the technical and social impact of the formulation of a new decree, a public hearing was necessary, with room for all the sectors involved to present their perspectives and contributions, collaborating to the construction of an open and democratic Internet.

In this regard, the audience was divided into four blocks: CGI Competencies, CGI Multisectoral Composition, Elections and Mandate, and finally Transparency and Other Issues. The moments of speech were alternated between Government, Third Sector, Business Sector and Civil Society. Of the 138 contributions, we highlight the proposal of Prof. Sérgio Amadeu, who requests streaming of CGI meetings; proposal of the PROTESTE Association regarding the maintenance of the CGI’s competencies; and research conducted by the Youth Observatory that demonstrates the participation of each sector in the management of the CGI. IRIS team, after analyzing and studying the theme, also submitted its contribution to the audience, available here.