Global Network Initiative

Big thanks to everyone who joined and contributed to GNI and Digital Trust and Safety Partnership's first European Rights & Risks Assessment Forum this week in Brussels! Our multistakeholder exploration of assessing systemic risks to fundamental rights, as part of implementing the European Union's Digital Services Act, was rich, insightful, and opened doors to collaborative learning. Special thanks to our colleagues at DTSP, who's support in co-organizing was indispensable to the success of the event. Read our blog to learn more about the Forum: https://lnkd.in/eTVCPEcK

What an exhilarating week in Brussels! Huge thanks to everyone who joined the Digital Trust and Safety Partnership and the Global Network Initiative for our first in-person European Rights & Risks Stakeholder Engagement Forum! It was a special pleasure to organize this together with our friends at GNI and much appreciation to everyone from the organizing team for all of the very hard work over the past few months. This was a pioneering multistakeholder exploration of systemic risk assessments and fundamental rights in the context of the Digital Services Act. I learned an enormous amount and hope our other participants did as well. Much more to come on this soon!

Paradigm Initiative and other members of the Net Rights Coalition (NRC) are appalled by the Internet shutdown which occurred on 25 June 2024, among other human rights violations being unleashed to muzzle protests in Kenya in response to the Finance Bill of 2024. This regrettable turn for Kenya is tantamount to a democratic backslide, considering Kenya has, in the past, had a good reputation for respecting Internet freedom. Read the full NRC statement on the shutdown in the midst of the #RejectFinanceBill2024 protests: https://lnkd.in/es87HQMk

Our chants are loud and clear: restore connectivity, respect human rights! Authorities in Kenya are restricting access to the internet amid ongoing #RejectFinanceBill2024 protests and unrest. #KeepItOn

📩 GNI's Q2 newsletters are now in your mailboxes! In this edition, we return with snapshots of an eventful few months. With the much anticipated NETmundial+10, the WSIS+20 Review, and our Q2 Board Meeting, our calendars have been full. In the meantime, our membership expanded to over 100 members and we welcomed a new Chair! But that’s not all. Read the full newsletter here: https://lnkd.in/ggXhp2qC Sign up for regular updates: https://lnkd.in/gZbF52kK

The Global Network Initiative welcomes a new independent chair - Vicky Bowman: "Former British diplomat, and business and human rights expert Vicky Bowman will join the Global Network Initiative as the new Independent Chair. ... . Bowman began her career as a diplomat, serving in several roles in the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office, including in the European Union and as the UK Ambassador to Myanmar. She established the Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business (MCRB) in 2013, an initiative to encourage responsible business activities, and was based in Myanmar until being forced to leave in November 2022." (Read more: https://lnkd.in/g9b52dch ) Vicky succeeds David Kaye, Mark Stephens CBE and Jermyn Brooks. If you ever wonder whether GNI is doing important work, look at the caliber of people we've been able to recruit to Chair our board. I guess I shouldn't speak for everyone who was there at the very beginning, but speaking for myself, it is a deep source of satisfaction and comfort to know that this organization can continue to attract people of this stature. I look forward to working with Vicky Bowman! Dunstan Allison-Hope Bennett Freeman Dawn Wolfe Alexis Cheang Arvind Ganesan Chuck Cosson Cynthia M. Wong Christine Bader Rebecca MacKinnon David Sullivan Colin Maclay Robert Mahoney Patrik Hiselius Judith Lichtenberg Susan Morgan and a lot of other great people ...

🇦🇺 The Global Network Initiative (GNI) welcomes the opportunity to provide input on the Australian Government’s statutory review of the Online Safety Act 2021. Building on GNI's long-term engagements on the Act, GNI suggests replacing its blanket regulatory framework with a more systems-and-processes approach, and use of risk and impact as key metrics for determining regulatory approaches to harm. The Government should be careful to ensure that any changes are justifiable under international human rights law and are proportionate and appropriate to such purpose. Read the full submission: https://lnkd.in/gP6dDs8j

I am very excited about this and I am very much looking forward to working with Vicky Bowman at the Global Network Initiative Board.

I am incredibly excited about this! We have been so fortunate to have David Kaye as our Chair for the last four years and are super excited to now have Vicky Bowman taking the baton. I’ve known Vicky for several years and have a lot of admiration for her leadership, commitment to human rights, and foresight - all of which we will rely on going forward!

I am very pleased to be taking on this role at the endlessly evolving front edge of the business and human rights and regulatory agenda.