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Technology
titans and political activists are grappling with how to make social
responsibility and human rights part of the fabric of doing business on the
Internet.
 |
| Facebook in September began rolling out the latest in a rapid-fire series of enhancements to the leading social network as nascent rival Google+ opened its membership to the world. (AFP Photo) |
A Silicon
Valley Human Rights Conference will wrap Wednesday in San Francisco after two
days of networking and brainstorming regarding how to ensure that the Internet
is a tool for human rights instead of a weapon of oppression.
"Today
we face a series of challenges to the intersections of human rights, connected
technology, and government," said Michael Posner, US assistant secretary
of state for the bureau of democracy, human rights and labor.
"It is
a busy intersection and a lot of people want to put up traffic lights," he
continued in a keynote presentation.
The goal of
the conference was to collaborate on principles for entrepreneurs to balance
pursuit of profit with making sure their creations are used for social good
instead of evil.
"Silicon
Valley has always been the epicenter of technological innovation," said
conference organizer Brett Solomon.
"But
now it is also a digital beacon of hope," he said. "From the creation
of the chip to the writing of the code... we can commit together to make sure
the technologies are a force for good."
Engineers,
entrepreneurs, and executives joined with political analysts, activists, and
charity groups to delve into the vital role that the Internet plays in social
reform.
Sponsors of
the gathering include Google, Facebook, Skype, Mozilla and Yahoo!
"I
view the Internet as the greatest opportunity to advance human rights in our
lifetime," Facebook vice president of global communication and public
policy Elliot Schrage told attendees. "The Internet gives people a voice,
and we need to make sure it stays that way."
Threats
targeted at the conference included Western technology firms cooperating with
governments to censor what is shared on the Internet or track down people
disliked by authorities.
"The
bottom line is: we're here because of the actions of governments," Google
public policy director Bob Boorstin said.
"It's
not just repressive regimes, but democratic ones too," he said. "We
know more than 40 regimes that are actively blocking content around the
world."
Google on
Tuesday updated its online Transparency Report to provide the public with more
insights into government requests for information about its users and demands
that it remove content from its services.
"Like
other technology and communications companies, Google regularly receives
requests from government agencies and courts around the world to remove content
from our services and hand over user data," Google said.
In the
first six months of this year, US courts and law enforcement made 5,950
requests for data on users, Google said, 93 percent of which were fully or
partially complied with. Most requests involved criminal investigations.
India was
next with 1,739 data requests, 70 percent of which were fully or partially
complied with, Google said.
Google said
officials in India also asked for the removal of YouTube videos showing
protests against social leaders or containing offensive language aimed at
religious leaders. Most of the requests were denied.
China asked
that 121 items be removed from Google during the same period.
Western
countries that ramped up the number of requests for Google to take down items
included Britain, France, Germany, and Spain, according to the Mountain View,
California--based company.
Among the
hot conference topics was how much regulation is appropriate for objectives
ranging from net neutrality to protecting copyrights or fighting crime.
"We
saw the British government fantasizing about a kill switch and witnessed the
implications of the Patriot Act in the United States," European Parliament
member Marietje Schaake of the Netherlands said in a video.
"I'm
against over regulating this space when it is not needed, but we may need we
may need regulation to keep it open to competition," she continued.
Craigslist
founder Craig Newmark saw the world at a tipping point where democracy was
working, sometimes painfully, thanks to the Internet.
"The
street finds its own uses for technology and I'm pretty happy if we could just
avoid getting in the way," Newmark said during a panel discussion of
Internet regulation.
"It is
more important to use the Internet to give a voice to people who never have a
voice and give a break to people who never get a break," he concluded.
AFP
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