Aims and Priorities
The Freedom Online Coalition’s Member States work together to ensure challenges and opportunities relating to Internet freedom and digital technologies are on the policy agenda as a way to drive concrete policy changes and outcomes, and shape global norms to promote a rules-based, democratic, and inclusive world where human rights and fundamental freedoms are upheld in online and digital contexts.
All Coalition Member States have pledged to uphold and advance the FOC’s shared goals and values as stated in the Coalition’s foundational documents.
FOC Members share information on opportunities and challenges to promote and protect human rights, coordinate their diplomatic efforts, and work together to voice concern over measures related to the Internet and digital technologies that aim to curtail human rights. The activities of the FOC are guided by three working methods, as outlined in the Terms of Reference:
- Information and knowledge sharing, including through facilitating learning calls, monitoring and research activities, voluntary funding coordination, and sharing best-practices and guidelines on relevant policy and issue areas, as well as strengthening cooperation and coordination with outside stakeholders, where appropriate;
- Diplomatic coordination, including through developing joint positions and strategies on thematic topics, and coordinating rapid responses to human rights violations; and
- Advocacy, including through issuing of Coalition statements and other outputs, directly engaging in multilateral fora, facilitating joint demarches, and hosting and participating in internal and external events.
Program of Action
The Program of Action represents the efforts of the Coalition to be forward-looking and action-oriented in its work. It builds on the progress the Coalition has made in streamlining its internal operating procedures and clarifying its primary activity areas in the FOC Terms of Reference. Each year, the incoming FOC Chair leads the development of the Program of Action, which outlines the FOC’s vision, priorities, and activities for the defined period. Over the past years, the Coalition has made meaningful contributions to shape regional and international discussions on a number of areas that have been the focus of previous Programs of Action, including disinformation, Internet censorship, network disruptions, cross-border attacks on freedom of expression online, human rights impacts of cybersecurity policies, civic space, digital inclusion, human rights implications of artificial intelligence and emerging technologies, Internet shutdowns, and others. In 2025, the FOC aims to actively shape the global agenda by focusing on the following priorities of Estonia’s Chairship:- Governance and use of digital technologies and the Internet: The FOC is committed to ensuring human rights remain at the center of the design, use, and governance of digital technology and the Internet, and to protecting and advancing the multistakeholder approach. The Internet must remain free, open, interoperable, global, reliable, and secure, and digital technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), must be rights-respecting. At the same time, these discussions must meaningfully engage all relevant stakeholders, including governments, civil society, technical community, private sector, and academia. Extra care must be taken to involve stakeholders from marginalised communities, particularly from the Global South.
- Digital inclusion and digital public infrastructure (DPI):  The FOC aims to advance digital inclusion and meaningful access to technologies, which rests upon four key pillars: connectivity, digital literacy, civic participation, and online safety. Digital divides exacerbate the social and economic chasm between the Global North and the Global South, with marginalised communities being most affected.Digital public infrastructure is an important enabling component towards digital inclusion, with the potential to promote reliable, inclusive, and meaningful connectivity and access to bridge digital divides, and to strengthen civic participation online. However, implementation without human rights safeguards can lead to negative outcomes, including adverse impacts on human rights. When designed and deployed in a rights-respecting, inclusive, and collaborative manner, including with access to effective remedy and redress, DPI can work towards securing social and economic benets for communities, and enable the fullment and enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms, particularly for marginalised groups. This is why, under Estonia’s chairship, the FOC aims to advance knowledge on rights-respecting DPI to promote inclusive connectivity and civic participation, and mitigate potential risks of exclusion, discrimination, surveillance and violations of privacy, as well as explore the contextual realities and differences between the deployment of DPI in the Global North and the Global South and explore mechanisms to redress the uneven impact of advanced digital technologies.
- Cross-regional engagement: The development of inclusive and informed positions, shaped through cross-regional engagement and dialogue with a diverse range of stakeholders, is vital for the FOC to be an effective platform to advance human rights, both online and ofine, worldwide. Enhancing this engagement, especially with stakeholders from the Global South, will further strengthen the Coalition’s ability to ensure challenges and opportunities relating to Internet freedom and digital technologies are prioritized in national policy agendas and within key multilateral processes relating to the FOC’s mandate.
PAST YEARS
To view the FOC Program of Action for previous years, follow the links below:
