Thousands of people from over 100 countries have demanded the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) say "NO!" to more government control over the internet and allow free, public access to their planning documents.
And guess what? They're listening. High-placed government sources tell us that several countries will ask the ITU and its member states to release preparatory documents at the final ITU Council Working Group meeting this Wednesday in Geneva. Member states at this gathering could decide to open up the process and let users around the world see what's going on behind closed doors, but we have to push them.
We've gotten a hold of the email addresses of the Council Working Group management team. Now is your chance to tell these decision makers directly that we expect transparency and accountability of our governments, particularly when it comes to internet policy.
Click here to find your region's representative and write them a short, personal message urging them to release planning documents detailing proposals that could shape our internet.
Leaked documents have shown that some of these proposals would give countries full control over "the information and communication infrastructure within their state" (proposed by China); license to inspect private email under the guise of searching for "malware" and "spam" (proposed by Russia); and even the ability to levy fees that would make it harder for us to access sites like Google and Facebook (proposed by Iran).
The ITU has done much good around the world, but that is not cause for expanding their mandate. While there is some debate over what's going on internally and the precise makeup of these proposals, the closed nature of this process is only muddying the waters. That's why we need to have all past and future documents available to the public, rather than just leaked copies.
We have until Friday. Click here to email your region's representative directly and urge the ITU to show the world's users what they plan on doing to our internet before the end of the meetings on Friday!
Thanks for your support,
The Access team
Access is an international NGO that promotes open access to the internet as a means to free, full and safe participation in society and the realization of human rights.
