From 30 November to 3 December 2021, the 10th Anniversary Freedom Online Conference took place under the theme “Openness, Accessibility and Inclusion – Human Rights Online in the 2020’s’’. The Conference was held virtually for the first time, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite the challenging circumstances, more than 800 participants from over 70 countries and across various stakeholder groups registered to attend the Conference.
With the FOC celebrating its 10th anniversary under Finland’s Chairship, 2021 has provided an opportune moment for the Coalition to pave the way forward for the promotion of a human-rights based approach to Internet governance and digitalization in the coming decade.
The Conference featured more than 70 speakers over 13 sessions covering FOC priority issues outlined in the Program of Action 2021, including disinformation, digital inclusion, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, challenges by authoritarian regimes, as well as other topics related to Internet freedom.
On Friday, 3 December the Conference culminated with the FOC’s Ministerial Meeting, hosted by Pekka Haavisto, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland, and featured remarks from more than 30 FOC member states’ ministers of foreign affairs and other state representatives. The Ministerial Meeting provided an opportunity for the FOC to launch the “Freedom Online Coalition 10th Anniversary Helsinki Declaration – Towards a Rules-based, Democratic and Digitally Inclusive World”. The Helsinki Declaration, signed by all FOC members, outlines the Coalition’s vision on redoubling efforts to protect Internet freedom in the coming decade, and reaffirms its commitment to protect and promote human rights for all, both offline and online.
The Chair’s Summary of the 2021 Freedom Online Conference is now available to view online, and includes end-of-year regards and a summary of Finland’s Chairship activities, as well as session summaries and links to view recordings of the opening plenary, sessions and the Ministerial Meeting.
