The Freedom Online Coalition is pleased to introduce its Program of Action for 2019-2020. It outlines the FOC’s priorities for supporting Internet freedom and protecting human rights online, and identifies the crucial activities the FOC will endeavour to undertake in order to directly address Internet freedom challenges as identified by FOC Members and the FOC Advisory Network. These activities will be carried out over the course of Ghana’s Chairmanship of the Coalition, which extends from 1 March 2019 –1 March 2020.
In the forthcoming year, the FOC will continue to tackle Internet freedom related issues, while also strengthening the Coalition’s networks. The FOC’s activities will focus on a number of areas, including limiting state-sponsored restrictions to human rights online, defending civic spaces, closing digital divides, mainstreaming in cybersecurity debates, and highlighting the potential human rights implications of artificial intelligence in online spaces and the complex challenges to human rights caused by disinformation. The FOC will be engaging with these issues through the following methods, as highlighted in the Stockholm Terms of Reference:
- Diplomatic Coordination between Members, local networks and outside stakeholders at multilateral forums;
- Shaping of Global Norms through the development and promotion of FOC language and joint statements, as well as raising awareness of FOC priority areas; and
- Multistakeholder Engagement through collaboration with the Advisory Network and other stakeholders across activities, including the Annual Freedom Online Conference.
Updates on the implementation of the Program of Action 2019-2020 will be communicated via the FOC website and upcoming editions of the Quarterly FOC Newsletter. You can view the FOC’s Program of Action for 2019-2020 here.
