Towards an Internet Free of Censorship in Latin America
* Book: Towards an Internet free of Censorship: Proposals for Latin America. Ed. by Eduardo Bertoni et al. Palermo, Argentina: Center for the Study of Free Expression, 2012.
Original Spanish title: Hacía una Internet libre de censura: Propuestas para América Latina.
Description
"The Center for the Study of Free Expression (CELE) at Argentina’s University of Palermo released Towards an Internet free of Censorship: Proposals for Latin America [Hacía una Internet libre de censura: Propuestas para América Latina] [es]. With contributions by leading policy experts from Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S., the book addresses some of the most pressing challenges facing Latin American digital rights advocates today.
Drawing on current debates in five of the region’s strongest economies—Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico—all of which boast high Internet penetration rates for Latin America, contributors provide a sketch of legislation, judicial decisions, and policies that affect free expression and privacy online.
...
The book’s authors urge policymakers to rely on international and regional human rights instruments—the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the American Convention on Human Rights—as crucial sources of guiding principles in making policy for the digital age.
Underlying much of the analysis and discussion in the text are three fundamental questions:
- When Internet users post content, store personal data, and search for information on the web, what are their rights and responsibilities?
- How can governments protect citizens’ rights to privacy and free expression while still upholding defamation and copyright law and ensuring that law enforcement officials can carry out legitimate criminal investigations online?
- What role do Internet intermediaries—ISPs, search engines, or platforms for user-generated content, such as YouTube or WordPress—have in implementing government policy?
Numerous debates surrounding Internet regulation in Latin America focus on copyright violations and threats to honor or reputation (also known as defamation). Many courts in the region take these infractions seriously (both on and offline), and some legislators argue that they justify implementing tighter regulations on Internet activity.
In Colombia, the proposed (though currently shelved) Lleras Law would allow copyright holders to demand that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) remove infringing content from the web, a process known as “notice-and-takedown.” Under current Colombian law, ISPs can only be required to remove content if they receive an order from a judge. But Ley Lleras would eliminate this requirement, leaving ISPs with the burden of determining whether or not takedown requests were valid." (http://advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org/2012/01/26/new-book-proposes-open-internet-policies-for-latin-america/)