RightsCon: Joining Forces Against Shutdowns, with the Freedom Online Coalition’s Task Force on Internet Shutdowns

Many actors are working to counter Internet shutdowns from a variety of angles. Governments, activists, media, and civil society groups build social and diplomatic pressure on the authorities responsible, while researchers, private industry, and other technical experts in the measurement community gather essential data about network disruptions and their effects. Despite overlapping goals and methods, however, these stakeholders are not always able to share information or collaborate effectively.

Hosted under the umbrella of the Freedom Online Coalition (FOC) Task Force on Internet Shutdowns (TFIS), this community lab will call on all stakeholders – centering on grassroots perspectives, particularly from the technical and measurement communities – to learn from each other’s experiences, to identify avenues for TFIS to help coordinate, and to find ways different communities could fill gaps in each other’s expertise and advocacy. We will focus particularly on how Internet measurement work and advocacy and diplomacy work can complement and learn from each other.

An excellent complement for this community lab is the UK Government’s session “How can governments, civil society and industry better collaborate to address Internet shutdowns?” That session will focus on identifying key obstacles and actions for governments, civil society, and industry, whereas this one will explore opportunities for ongoing collaboration with the measurement community.

Launched in December of 2021, TFIS is chaired by the United States Department of State, alongside FOC Advisory Network members Access Now and the Global Network Initiative (GNI). The Task Force aims to improve coordination among like-minded countries, civil society, and the private sector to anticipate, address, and respond to internet shutdowns.