The Cities Coalition for Digital Rights rounded up the end of 2019 with a review of the work done throughout the year.
The coalition, formed by Amsterdam, Barcelona and New York in November 2018 and now supported by UN-Habitat, UN Office of Human Rights, UCLG and Eurocities, aims to protect and uphold human rights on the internet at the local and global level.
With increasing reliance on the internet comes the need to protect and respect basic human rights for all in the digital realm. Globally, six out of ten people are not connected to the internet, and violation of human rights including shutdowns, targeting of activists and journalists for their online activities, collection of personal data without consent, and digital surveillance persist. The Cities Coalition for Digital Rights is committed to harnessing technology, to improve the lives of people and support communities in cities by providing trustworthy and secure digital services and infrastructure.
The coalition aims to share best practices, learn from each other’s challenges and successes, and coordinate common initiatives and actions. Inspired by the Internet Rights and Principles Coalition (IRPC), the work of 300 international stakeholders over the past ten years, the Cities Coalition for Digital Rights are committed to the following five evolving principles:
- Universal and equal access to the internet, and digital literacy
- Privacy, data protection and security
- Transparency, accountability, and non-discrimination of data, content and algorithms
- Participatory Democracy, diversity and inclusion
- Open and ethical digital service standards
To date, 45 cities have formally confirmed to endorse the 5 principles of the Cities Coalition for Digital Rights. The new cities include Athens, Bratislava, Cary, Chicago, Grenoble, Helsinki, Kansas City, London, Los Angeles, Lyon, Milan, Moscow, Philadelphia, Portland, San Jose, Tirana, Torino, Vienna and Zaragoza.
Original source: UN-Habitat
Published on 07 January 2019
