2018 United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights

Organized by the German Institute for human Rights

Background to the discussion:
Blanket statements about the internet’s role in society now and over the last twenty-five years almost all come across as banal. Whether in the global north or south, in developed or developing countries, in urban or rural areas, the vast majority of human lives are touched in some way by the internet. Even if its political implications originally seemed limited to things like freedom of speech, it is now clear from the events of the last ten years that the internet can topple dictatorships and serve as the catalyst for sweeping social movements—and that it can also fuel violence against minorities and derail elections by propagating conspiracy theories.
Private companies play a central role in all this. The internet itself is just a technical standard; it is private companies—social networks, chat software, news sites, payment providers—that determine what can be done with it, how, and by whom. They are the entities that shape what we really refer to when we talk about the societal phenomenon that is the internet. And so this session asks: are these companies a threat to human rights? Are they tools of liberation or surveillance service providers for oppressors? Experts in the field will step away from their normal positions and institutional roles and have a debate about first principles in a way rarely allowed for by panel discussions.

Session format:
The debate will follow the British parliamentary debate format, similar to the format used at the Oxford Union and elsewhere. The session will begin with four speakers, two in support of and two in opposition to the question. There will then be a brief period in which the floor is open to audience interventions in response to the speeches. The debate will be concluded by a final speech from each side, followed by an audience vote on the question.
The result of the vote will be announced at a drinks and canapes reception following the debate.

How to participate:
No advance registration is required. Audience members will have the opportunity to make spontaneous interventions during the middle part of the debate.