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

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

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

UNGA HLW Event: Upholding Democracy and Human Rights in the Face of Rising Disinformation
2022-09-20 15:30 - 16:45 UTC
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 Advisory Network Monthly Call
2022-09-21 15:00 - 16:00, 2022-11-16 15:00 - 16:00 UTC

FOC Silicon Valley Working Group Monthly Call
2022-09-28 17:00 - 18:00 UTC

FOC Task Force on Digital Equality Monthly Call
2022-09-29 15:00 - 16:00, 2022-10-27 15:00 - 16:00 UTC

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

FOC Strategy & Coordination Meeting (Day 2)
2022-10-20, 2023-03-28 13:00 - 16:00 UTC

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

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

IGF 2022: Advancing Digital Inclusion Through the FOC: Responding to Internet Fragmentation
2022-11-29 14:30 - 15:30 UTC
For more information, please visit the IGF session page.

IGF 2022: Regulating Algorithms: What if - if not - and if so, how?
2022-11-30 14:30 - 15:30 UTC

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 UTC

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

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.

Panel Session: 'Live from the Freedom Online Coalition: How the FOC works for people around the world'
2023-03-27 17:30 - 18:30 UTC
The Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab, in partnership with the 2023 Freedom Online Coalition (FOC)​ Chair the United States, will present a live streamed panel session from Washington, D.C. during Day 1 of the FOC’s Strategy & Coordination Meeting.
Join us on Monday, March 27th at 1:30 p.m. (EDT) / 11:30 a.m. (PDT) / 7:30 p.m. (CEST), to hear from U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, Wendy Sherman, Alissa Starzak from Cloudlfare, and FOC Advisory Network Members Boye Adegoke (Paradigm Initiative) and Juan Carlos Lara (Derechos Digitales).
For further information, and to register for the session visit the Atlantic Council’s website.

RightsCon Summit 2023
2023-06-05 - 2023-06-08

FOC Strategy & Coordination Meeting (Costa Rica)
2023-06-05

Africa IGF | "The FOC Presents: Collective Efforts to Counter the Misuse of Surveillance Technologies"
2023-09-19 09:45 - 10:45 UTC
In the past decade, the potential of a free, open, interoperable, secure, and reliable Internet has been increasingly under threat in numerous regions around the world. The growing risk of fragmentation, the use of state-sponsored disruptions and shutdowns, content moderation and censorship, the spread of disinformation online, and the growing misuse of digital technologies, threaten the potential for digital technologies to promote and protect human rights, both online and offline. The Freedom Online Coalition (FOC) is an intergovernmental coalition of 38 Member States spanning from Africa to Asia, Europe, the Americas, and the Middle East, deeply committed to the human rights and fundamental freedoms proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
As it advances into its second decade, the role of an intergovernmental coalition that enables like-minded democracies – supported by civil society, academic, and industry expertise – to advance strategies that promote and protect human rights has never been more vital in this evolving landscape. This session will explore the challenges and opportunities facing human rights online in 2023 and beyond, with a focus on collective efforts to counter the misuse of surveillance technologies.
To learn more and register your attendance, visit www.igf.africa/2023-program/.

Ministerial Meeting | "Advancing the 2030 Agenda through Inclusive and Rights-Respecting Digital Policy"
2023-09-20 14:00 - 15:30 (America/Halifax)
On Wednesday, 20 September, the United States, 2023 Chair of the Freedom Online Coalition (FOC), will convene High-Level Representatives of FOC member states, key Group of 77 (G77) partners on technology policy, and other relevant stakeholders in New York on the margins of the 78th Session of the United Nations General Assembly.
The Ministerial meeting will feature opening remarks from U.S. Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights Uzra Zeya, keynote remarks from U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and will be followed by moderated roundtable discussion with country representatives and members of the FOC’s independent multistakeholder Advisory Network, moderated by U.S. Ambassador at Large for Cyberspace and Digital Policy Nathaniel Fick.
The roundtable discussion will explore methods to advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals through inclusive and rights-respecting digital policies. Panellists will explore challenges and opportunities related to advancing connectivity, promoting access and inclusion, and using technology as an enabler of rights.
Watch the discussion live at 2PM (ET) on Wednesday, September 20 by visiting www.freedomonlinecoalition.com/ministerial-meeting.

Global Conference for the Celebration of the International Day for the Universal Access to Information
2023-09-28 11:00 - 12:00 (Europe/Paris)
FOC and Advisory Network Members will participate in a panel session during the Global Conference for the Celebration of the International Day for the Universal Access to Information on 28 September. This year’s Conference will focus on the importance of the online space for Access to Information. For more information and to view the session live, visit www.unesco.org/en/articles/international-day-universal-access-information-2023.
Panel: “Technology for Democracy and Sustainable Development” (in cooperation with Access Now, Freedom Online Coalition and technology companies) will shed light on the complex dynamics and evolving landscape surrounding access to information in the digital era. This theme will encompass discussions on the challenges and opportunities posed by the internet, the significance of accessing information online, and the implications of internet shutdowns and online censorship.
Moderator:

Ms Mahsa Alimardani, Oxford University, (Iran).

Speakers:

Mr Bret Solomon, Executive Director, Access Now, (United States of America);
Ms Emilar Gandhi, Head of Stakeholder Engagement, Strategic Policy Initiatives at Meta (Zimbabwe and United Kingdom);
Mr Kanbar Hossein Bor, Head Democratic Governance and Media Freedom Department at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, (United Kingdom);
Mr Preetam Maloor, Head of the Emerging Technologies Division at the International Telecommunication Union, (ITU) – online;
Mr Hilmi Ghalib, Executive Director, Yemeni Organization for Development and Technology (YODET), (Yemen) – TBC.

IGF 2023 | "(Re)-Building Trust Online: A Call to Action"
2023-10-09 08:30 - 09:30 (Asia/Tokyo)
The Action Coalition on Trustworthy Information Online is a collaboration between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, Wikimedia, Witness, Global Voices, and Salesforce. It aims to develop and advocate for strategies and policies that strengthen constructive and trustworthy online information. The coalition focuses on policy solutions to increase information integrity online. Technology is a significant source of societal transformation in promoting human rights, bringing people closer to the decisions that influence their lives, and making democratic institutions more robust and responsive. Yet online, expectations and aspirations for democracy have not fully been met. Digital technologies increasingly offer tools and channels for severe threats to democracies globally and our democratic practices.
In this session, the Action Coalition will present recommendations to identify political, regulatory, and technical approaches to enabling and protecting human rights to create, collect, share, and access trustworthy information. We will discuss how to advocate for better regulation in multiple jurisdictions. From members of the Coalition, we will hear about the importance of encouraging policymakers to understand community-based models for information creation and sharing, citizen journalism, and non-profit public interest journalism rooted in local communities. The recommendations set priorities for action by offering specific and actionable policies focusing on community-based models and putting forward concrete proposals for a healthier global information ecosystem. Participants will have access to the Action Coalition’s call for action and the possibility to get involved further after the launch of the recommendations.
The outcomes of this session will feed into the activities of the recently established FOC Task Force on Trustworthy Information Online (TFTIO), which will be continuing the work of the Action Coalition within its mandate in 2023. In its new role under the FOC, and with the aim to engage the broader mutlistakeholder community, TFTIO will work to develop and propose policy recommendations for governmental institutions and lawmakers with the goal of safeguarding a healthy online information ecosystem, ensuring people everywhere have the ability to participate in the creation of online information, and access to a broad range of trustworthy information.
View the IGF 2023 session page: https://intgovforum.org/en/content/igf-2023-launch-award-event-144-re-building-trust-online-a-call-to-action

IGF 2023 | "Elections and the Internet: free, fair and open?"
2023-10-10 09:45 - 10:45 (Asia/Tokyo)
Facilitated by the Freedom Online Coalition Taskforce on Internet Shutdowns, this Town Hall session will explore how the multi-stakeholder community (countries, civil society and the private sector) can work together to anticipate, prepare for and where possible prevent Internet shutdowns before they occur, in particular ahead of elections, building on progress to date.
The session will feature a panel discussion and Q&A, bringing together experts to look at causes, trends and impacts of Internet shutdowns, including on human rights, information integrity and democratic participation (particularly in the context of wider attempts to control the information space around elections). Through the session the Task Force will seek to identify practical steps that can be taken, drawing lessons from elections during 2023 and looking towards ‘high risk’ elections in 2024.
During 2023, the UK is chairing the Freedom Online Coalition (FOC) Taskforce on Internet Shutdowns (TFIS) alongside FOC Advisory Network (AN) members Access Now and the Global Network Initiative. TFIS serves as a multi-national and multi-stakeholder coordination and response mechanism on Internet shutdowns.
Through TFIS, we are working to improve coordination among like-minded countries, civil society, and the private sector to anticipate and respond to Internet shutdowns. As the biggest multilateral, multi-stakeholder forum dedicated to internet governance, the UN IGF is the ideal platform to bring partners together to drive this forward.
This event will support and deliver on the TFIS’ four key lines of effort: knowledge sharing; response – preventative and reactive (especially the former); shifting global norms – elevating Internet shutdowns up the international policy agenda (in line with the aspiration Japan set out to when hosting a session on Internet shutdowns at the UN UGF 2022); and improving data collection (e.g. trends around Internet shutdowns around elections).
View the IGF session page: https://intgovforum.org/en/content/igf-2023-town-hall-39-elections-and-the-internet-free-fair-and-open
