WIKIORG policy update/2017-w25
This is ORG's Policy Update for the week beginning 19/06/2017.
If you are reading this online, you can also subscribe to the email version or unsubscribe.
This is a short policy update to address the Queen’s Speech, a full update of recent developments in digital rights will follow next week.
Queen’s Speech
Following the General Election 2017 results and Theresa May’s attempt to form a government, the Queen delivered her speech to both Houses of Parliament on 21 June.
The Conservative Government appears to have dropped several pre-election manifesto commitments, including the introduction of compulsory sex and relationship education in schools.
In her speech, the Queen referred to the Government’s plans in three areas that will have an impact on digital rights: Digital Charter, Data Protection Bill and Counter-terrorism Review and Commission for Countering Extremism. The latest blog by Jim Killock offers a brief analysis.
Digital Charter
The Queen said that
”proposals for a new digital charter will be brought forward to ensure that the United Kingdom is the safest place to be online.”
This directly follows promises made in the Conservative manifesto.
”A Conservative government will develop a digital charter, working with industry and charities to establish a new framework that balances freedom with protection for users, and offers opportunities alongside obligations for businesses and platforms. This charter has two fundamental aims: that we will make Britain the best place to start and run a digital business; and that we will make Britain the safest place in the world to be online.”
The speech made it clear that this is a charter, not a bill, which suggests that this might be a voluntary framework. However, to ensure that free speech is not just placed in the hands of private companies, the Charter should be backed up by a regulatory framework including independent or judicial oversight of material.
Relying solely on enforcement by private companies brings issues of accountability. It is unclear who would be responsible for the rules on making the Internet safe and what, if any, ways of appeal would be available.
This Government continues in their efforts to regulate the online world in the same way the offline world is regulated. They aim to tackle harmful behaviours and harmful content online (extremist, abusive or harmful to children), and they plan to compel technology companies to do more to protect their users and improve safety online.
The Government recognises that these challenges can be international in their nature and they intend to work with other “like-minded democracies to develop a shared approach”.
Theresa May meeting with the French Prime Minister last week to discuss a joint campaign to tackle online radicalisation would suggest that this strategy is already under way.
The Queen’s Speech and Background Notes accompanying it did not provide enough detail to assess potential harms of this policy. However, enforcement powers in the hands of private companies is often riddled with problems.
Counter-terrorism Review
”The government’s counter-terrorism strategy will be reviewed to ensure that the police and security services have all the powers they need and that the length of custodial sentences for terrorism-related offences are sufficient to keep the population safe.”
The notes on the speech detail that the review will cover:
- counter-terrorism powers and other powers the Government can use to fight terrorism;
- sentences for those convicted of terror offences;
- working with online companies to reduce and restrict the availability of extremist material online.
The Conservative Party included similar but more extensive demands on online companies in their manifesto. Both Google and Facebook already issued statements on how they intend to tackle online extremism.
Commission for Countering Extremism
“A commission for countering extremism will be established to support the Government in stamping out extremist ideology in all its forms, both across society and on the internet, so it is denied a safe space to spread.”
The Commission will:
- Identify examples of extremism and expose them;
- Help the Government to identify new policies to tackle extremism;
- Support the public sector and civil society in promoting and defending pluralistic values across all our communities.
The Commission’s work is likely to include instances of extremism online. This policy appears to take an approach to create new ideas to counter extremism. In order to be successful, the Commission will have to act impartially and ensure that fundamental rights are respected in all of their future policy suggestions.
The Government did not make it clear whether the Commission for Countering Extremism is a short-term "policy commission" or a long term body with permanent duties
Data protection
”A new law will ensure that the United Kingdom retains its world-class regime protecting personal data”
The Data Protection Bill will replace the Data Protection Act 1998. The DPA is being removed by the EU General Data Protection Regulation that is coming into force in May 2018.
At the moment, it is not clear if the text of the GDPR will be brought into this Bill, or whether it supplements it.
The main benefits and elements specified in the QS background notes suggest that the Bill will implement some of the derogations in the GDPR and will include new rules for law enforcement agencies. The latter rules come from the EU Directive on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by authorities.
Privacy groups, including ORG, are asking the government to implement the optional right in the GDPR for organisations to bring collective complaints on data protection without the need for affected individuals to instruct them. We expect such optional exemptions and derogations to be included in the Bill.
ORG media coverage
See ORG Press Coverage for full details.
- 2017-06-21-Sky News-Digital Charter to 'balance' online freedoms with protections, says Government
- Author: Alexander J Martin
- Summary: Jim Killock quoted on online companies ought to have as much incentive to protect free speech as they have to remove illegal material.
- 217-06-21-Gizmodo-Queen's Speech: Here Are The Government's Tech Plans For The Next Two Years
- Author: James O’Malley
- Summary: Jim Killock quoted on online companies ought to have as much incentive to protect free speech as they have to remove illegal material.
- 2017-06-21-Cnet-New UK laws could erase your cringey teenage Facebook photos
- Author: Richard Trenholm
- Summary: Jim Killock quoted on online companies ought to have as much incentive to protect free speech as they have to remove illegal material.
- 2017-06-21-IT Pro-Queen's Speech: IT industry reacts to tech pledges
- Author: Joe Curtis
- Summary: Jim Killock quoted on online companies ought to have as much incentive to protect free speech as they have to remove illegal material.
- 2017-06-23-IB Times-Queen's Speech: IT industry reacts to tech pledges
- Author: Jason Murdock
- Summary: Jim Killock quoted on online companies ought to have as much incentive to protect free speech as they have to remove illegal material.
- 2017-06-23-Wired-Facebook launches Online Civil Courage Initiative to tackle rising extremism in the UK
- Author: Victoria Woolaston
- Summary: ORG mentioned in relation to the Internet regulation pushing terrorists underground.