CENTR has launched the Initiative in the context of the upcoming European Parliament elections to be held in June 2024 and in anticipation of the advent of Web 4.0 (or “Next Generation Internet”), which will see that “advanced artificial and ambient intelligence, the internet of things, trusted blockchain transactions, virtual worlds and XR capabilities, digital and real objects and environments are fully integrated and communicate with each other, enabling truly intuitive, immersive experiences, seamlessly blending the physical and digital worlds”.
To summarise, the Initiative sets key principles in the following relevant areas:
Interoperability
The Next Generation Internet must continue to be based upon open standards and all stakeholders, notably governments, should support this aim. The EU and its Member States should support and encourage compatibility and interoperability with existing foundational aspects of essential Internet infrastructure by way of mechanisms such as public procurement. On this point, the Initiative affirms that “In order to maintain the internet's openness and ability to evolve further without excluding anyone, interoperability with existing internet infrastructure is a must.”
Competition
On the basis that “diverse, decentralised systems ensure that there is no single point of failure”, EU policymakers should “refrain from harmonising beyond the baseline of open standards: legislation should be technologically neutral to ensure it is future-proof and promotes competition.” In this way “knowledge and power are distributed, not concentrated, increasing consumer welfare and choice.”
Access
Regulatory initiatives should not disproportionately impact the ease of access of European citizens and businesses to digital identifiers such as domain names, as doing so would “push EU citizens to less regulated and less secure environments”.
Cybersecurity
EU policymakers should continue to support collaboration in the area of cybersecurity, working towards the objectives outlined in the Digital Decade Programme 2030, under which:
“…everyone has the skills to use everyday technology. Even small businesses use technology to make better business decisions, interact with their customers or improve parts of their business operations. Connectivity reaches people living in villages, mountains and remote areas, so everyone can reach online opportunities and participate in the benefits of the digital society. Key public services and administrative procedures are online for the convenience of citizens and businesses.”
The Initiative asserts that European ccTLDs have “built up decades of experience in securely managing digital identifiers while safeguarding data protection principles (such as data minimisation) and insisting on respect for human rights (such as due process)” and that European ccTLDs are “available to share that experience”.
Fundamental Rights
This section of the Initiative covers both human rights and privacy and data protection. With regard to human rights, the Initiative states that “EU policymakers should make human rights impact assessments public without exception, to ensure transparency in the face of public scrutiny” and that decision making in the multistakeholder model must be “guided by the tenets of the rule of law, due process, and transparency of decision-making.”
With regard to privacy and data protection, the Initiative states that “Strong data protection safeguards are strictly necessary in a democratic society” and as such, existing data protection standards should be enforced and strengthened. It goes on to observe that:
“Critiques stating that privacy-enhancing and data protection requirements hamper innovation and societally beneficial progress should be met with the already existing legal grounds in the Union’s data protection law, e.g., informed consent to data processing or warrants for law enforcement agencies.”
Online Content
Online content removal at the infrastructure level (e.g. domain name suspension) must be respectful of due process, transparency and involve a competent public authority in order to avoid undesirable outcomes such as human rights breaches and “collateral damage to end-users”.
In this respect, the Initiative asserts that:
“Respect for due process and involvement of public competent authorities when removal of online content is sought, as well as recognition of different levels of intervention at infrastructure level (such as deletion of domain names as a measure of last resort), has resulted in Europe consistently leading the charts of low DNS abuse, and effective consumer protection.”
Finally, it affirms that:
“Studies that accompany impact assessments of proposed legislation targeting removal or blocking of online content should be public without exception.”
Governance
The Initiative states that “the success of the multistakeholder model relies solely on its support from all stakeholders, including governments.” As such, the EU must ensure support for the evolving multistakeholder model by allocating adequate resources and “actively participating in and insisting on its relevance.”
With reference to the Initiative, Polina Malaja, Policy Director at CENTR has commented that:
“CENTR members are committed to making the internet ecosystem stronger, more resilient, and future-proof, and these principles reflect that dedication. As EU heads toward the next digital decade, we must maintain the core elements of the free and open internet that have allowed information society to develop and thrive.
By underlining clear priorities for each area, CENTR puts forward a guiding framework to ensure a safe and human centric digital future.”
The full Initiative: Towards a Stronger Internet: Principles for the Next Digital Decade, can be found here.
Authored by the Anchovy News team.
