Dilma signs internet civil rights bill and criticises US for spying

04/24/2014 - 15h23

President Dilma Rousseff signed an internet civil rights bill during the opening ceremony of the NetMundial conference this Wednesday. The event that brings together representatives from over 80 countries in São Paulo is discussing the future of internet governance.

The signature comes after the bill was approved by the Senate plenary in a record time on Tuesday 22nd, after it was reviewed for a month. The Chamber of Deputies had approved it after deliberating for three years.

Dilma criticised the US for cyber spying after the revelations made last year. Her remarks were made in the presence of the founder of the web Tim Berners-Lee and other guests that were to discuss internet governance.

At the end of the opening speech, Nnenna Nwakanma –representing civil society at the NetMundial event– thanked Edward Snowden for having revealed the US government´s spying. The remarks were met by a smile and a standing ovation from president Dilma.

Despite the criticisms, Dilma also made a gesture to the Obama government. Last year, following Snowden´s revelations, the president had cancelled her state visit to Washington. "I welcome the US government´s initiative to substitute its institutional link with IANA (Internet Assigned Numbers Authority) and with ICANN (the Association for Assigned Names and Numbers) with a global management of these institutions.

The president defended a new Icann governance that is "multi-sectorial, multilateral, democratic and transparent by nature." With regards to governments, one country cannot override another as is the case nowadays with the US. "Governments must participate on an equal footing."

INTERNET CIVIL RIGHTS FRAMEWORK

One of the main points of the internet civil rights framework is the so called "net neutrality" rule which prevents operators from discriminating against content according to type or origin and privileging access or interfering with the speed of the connection to specific sites. Another change establishes that internet providers will only be responsible for third party content if they ignore judicial orders to remove it. Nowadays, in order to protect themselves from potential legal problems, providers often remove content merely through a notification.

Pornographic content is an exception. Pages that show pictures or videos that violate the intimacy of third parties without their prior consent will also be made responsible for the violation.

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