The 8th Asia Pacific Regional Internet Governance Forum (APrIGF) convened from 26th to 29th July, 2017 at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand, with the objective of“Ensuring an inclusive and sustainable development in AsiaPacific: A regional agenda for internet governance”.
APrIGF is a multi-stakeholder platform for public policy on internet and its impact on society. Since 2010, this prime annual conference draws in discussions and incubates collaborations for the developments of universally affordable, accessible, non-discriminated, secure and sustainable internet across the region. Discussion points from APrIGF are linked to the global Internet Governance Forum in the form of a ‘Synthesis Document’.
This year, APrIGF saw participation from over 550 stakeholders from around the region in addition to the 60 youth participants alongside at the Youth IGF. The broad topics covered during the sessions included access, empowerment, and diversity; cybersecurity, privacy, and safer Internet; digital economy and enabling innovation; and ensuring human rights online.
SFLC.in was represented by Prasanth Sugathan (Legal Director) and Vaishali Verma (Counsel) at the APrIGF. We organised two sessions at the forum and participated as speakers in two others.
Sessions Organized:
- Merger 2-Understanding Solutions towards Online Harassment (July 26th, 2:30-3:30 PM):
This session was co-organised by Digital Rights Foundation, Pakistanand SFLC.in, and followed the panel discussion format. The panelists for this session included Malavika Jayaram (Executive Director, Digital Asia Hub), Lisa Garcia (Gender Coordinator, Foundation for Media Alternatives), Shmyla Khan (Project Manager, Digital Rights Foundation) and Vaishali Verma (Counsel, SFLC.in). The session was moderated by Prasanth Sugathan.
During the course of the session, Vaishali briefly spoke about the findings of the report prepared by SFLC.in, titled “Online Harassment: A Form of Censorship”, published in November 2016. The session further elaborated upon the practical challenges faced by the victims of online harassment, the efforts being made by various organisations to address these difficulties and the need to make this discussion mainstream.
Video archive of this session can be accessed here and the transcript here.
- WS 80- Algorithmic Transparency: Understanding why we are profiled in a certain manner (July 29th, 9:00-10:30 AM)
This session aimed at understanding the importance of disclosure of algorithms, leading to an increase in privacy awareness through openness and transparency. The panelist for this session were Dr. Virgil Griffith (Scientist, Ethereum Foundation), Arthit Suriyawongkul (Digital Culture and Internet Policy Researcher, Foundation for Internet and Civic Culture), Rajat Kumar (Program Manager -Digital Transformation, Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung für die Freiheit), Jyoti Pandey (Senior Policy Analyst, Electronic Frontier Foundation), and Vaishali Verma (Counsel, SFLC.in). The session was moderated by Prasanth Sugathan.
The panelist deliberated upon the need for transparency in algorithms and the effect it would have upon the privacy of the individuals. It was acknowledged that disclosure of algorithms would lead to an increased awareness of privacy amongst the stakeholders. The session delved into the liability assessments in case of malfunction of an algorithm. The panel further discussed the possible ways to facilitate disclosure of algorithms while also balancing the commercial interest with the public interest at the same time.
The video archive of this session is available here and the transcript here.
Sessions Participated in:
- Merger 1- Publicness and the Right to be Forgotten: the Debates Begin (July 28th, 11:00-12:30 PM)
This session was co-organised by Open Net Korea and American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative. The panel discussed the question of right to be forgotten from the perspective of the visibility of public information, which falls under the realm of the freedom of expression and the right to know, instead of seeing it solely in the context of privacy. Prasanth Sugathan participated in this session on behalf of SFLC.in.
Official video archive of this session can be accessed here and the transcript here.
- WS 94 – Engaging with the #KeepItOn Movement: Fighting Internet Shutdowns (July 29th, 11:00-12:30 PM)
This session was organised by Access Now and reflected on the planned outcomes and developments from the #KeepItOn member organisations. The panelists discussed the status of disruptions and internet shutdowns in Asia-Pacific over the first half of 2017 and explored the opportunities for possible collaborations and initiatives in the region. SFLC.in was represented by Vaishali Verma in this session, who also spoke about the Internet shutdowns tracker maintained by SFLC.in.
The video archive of this session is available here and the transcript here.