Freedom Online Coalition

FOC Strategy & Coordination Meeting (Day 1)
2023-03-27, 2022-10-19

GDC Welcome Breakfast - FOC Silicon Valley Working Group
2023-03-21 16:45 - 18:30 UTC | 181 3rd Street San Francisco, CA 94103 United States, 181 3rd Street, San Francisco, CA, 94103, United States
Tuesday, 21 March | 8:45 – 10:30 PST | W San Francisco | 181 3rd Street, San Francisco CA 94103
The European Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ECNL) and the Freedom Online Coalition Silicon Valley Working Group cordially invite you to a welcome breakfast to kick off the 2023 Game Developers Conference (GDC). Join us to meet international gaming representatives attending GDC, as well as local industry, civil society and tech policy stakeholders.
Over breakfast, we’ll have an informal conversation that will touch on online harms and what companies can do to make their products and platforms safer for users, including as they grow in size and scope. Bring along your tough questions and challenges! Some ideas we’ll look at:
What sort of online harms can occur in gaming products and platforms? Can user safety be a competitive advantage? What industry best practices should companies try to replicate? What do I need to do, and who can help me?
To dig into these questions, we’ll hear from experts from industry, civil society, and academia who will talk about best practices for meaningful stakeholder engagement. We’ll learn about ECNL’s framework for stakeholder engagement in the design, development and deployment of social media platforms for gamers, as well as the benefits this engagement can have for your company/organization and users. Speakers will be announced soon!
Register your attendance by Monday, 20 March via this link.

FOC Geneva Diplomatic Network: Kick-Off Meeting
2023-02-02 11:30 - 13:30

FOC Paris Diplomatic Network Event: Briefing by the FOC-AN on the UNESCO Global Conference: Internet for Trust - Regulating Digital Platforms for Information as a Public Good
2022-12-08 14:00 - 15:00

IGF 2022: Regulating Algorithms: What if - if not - and if so, how?
2022-11-30 14:30 - 15:30
For more information, please visit the IGF session page.

IGF 2022: Advancing Digital Inclusion Through the FOC: Responding to Internet Fragmentation
2022-11-29 14:30 - 15:30

FOC Advisory Network Monthly Call
2022-11-16 15:00 - 16:00, 2022-09-21 15:00 - 16:00, 2022-07-20 15:00 - 16:00, 2022-06-15 15:00 - 16:00

FOC Task Force on Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights (TF-AIR) Monthly Meeting
2022-11-10 15:00 - 16:00

FOC Task Force on Internet Shutdowns (TFIS) Monthly Meeting
2022-11-07 14:30 - 15:30

FOC Task Force on Digital Equality Monthly Call
2022-10-27 15:00 - 16:00, 2022-09-29 15:00 - 16:00, 2022-08-25 15:00 - 16:00, 2022-07-28 15:00 - 16:00, 2022-06-30 15:00 - 16:00

FOC Strategy & Coordination Meeting (Day 2)
2022-10-20

FOC Task Force on Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights Monthly Call
2022-10-13 15:00 - 16:00, 2022-09-08 15:00 - 16:00, 2022-07-14 15:00 - 16:00

FOC Silicon Valley Working Group Monthly Call
2022-09-28 17:00 - 18:00, 2022-06-14 17:00 - 18:00

FOC Friends of the Chair Monthly Call
2022-09-27 14:00 - 15:00, 2022-08-31 14:00 - 15:00, 2022-06-29 14:00 - 15:00

UNGA HLW Event: Upholding Democracy and Human Rights in the Face of Rising Disinformation
2022-09-20 15:30 - 16:45
On Tuesday, 20 September, Canada, Chair of the Freedom Online Coalition, and the Kingdom of the Netherlands will host an event during the high-level week of the 77th United Nations General Assembly titled ‘Upholding Democracy and Human Rights in the Face of Rising Disinformation’.
Rapid development and deployment of digital technology have enabled the proliferation of disinformation with harmful effects on democratic processes and the global information environment. This challenge has been further accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the guise of addressing disinformation, freedom of expression and media freedom have been unduly restricted globally. Additionally, state-sponsored disinformation campaigns are being deployed to undermine peace, prosperity, and individual freedoms, threatening to destabilize democracies around the world and undermine the rules-based international system.
In this light, the event aims to showcase a democratic approach to addressing disinformation, in which respect for human rights is at the core of our responses. Chairs of the Freedom Online Coalition (FOC), International IDEA, and the Media Freedom Coalition (MFC) will be present and highlight the value of a democratic, rights-based approach to counter disinformation by sharing the work that they have been able to accomplish.
To view the event online, please join the Zoom webinar at 15.30 UTC.

FOC Task Force on Internet Shutdowns Monthly Call
2022-09-19 13:00 - 14:00

RightsCon: Joining Forces Against Shutdowns, with the Freedom Online Coalition’s Task Force on Internet Shutdowns
2022-06-10 17:00 - 18:00
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.
