In a world after Covid-19, where humanity needs to cope with the digital challenges prompted by the virus, the Post-Pandemic Digital Rights Initiative (PDRI) will offer an innovative guideline for Internet regulation based on key rights and principles.

Since the Brazilian National Congress approved the Marco Civil da Internet (i.e Internet Bill of Rights) in 2014, cyberspace has experienced major changes. These shifts brought along some challenges related to social and regulatory matters. Consequently, we now face hurdles that call for an updated vision on digital rights and principles.

With that in mind – and following Marco Civil’s blueprint both in substance and procedure-, the Institute for Technology and Society of Rio (ITS Rio), in partnership with the Minderoo Foundation, is launching the Post-Pandemic Digital Rights Initiative (PDRI). The main goal is to draft a charter of principles to serve as a leading guideline for Internet regulation after the Covid-19 pandemic, upholding the world’s digital infrastructure and safeguarding a healthy digital environment.

The initiative will be developed upon a multi-stakeholder process, welcoming agents from different sectors of society to submit their views and actively shape the principles that shall guide our post-pandemic digital lives. Just like the Internet we are aiming for, it will reflect the values of collaboration, dialogue, and openness.

Moreover, the initiative will strive to include marginalized voices through an active consultation process and paradiplomacy methods, as we hope to have a baseline of principles that is shaped by and speaks to this moment in history.

The charter will incorporate principles that are part of other international initiatives (e.g content moderation guidelines, AI ethics charters, cybersecurity best practices, and so on), building upon emerging consensus or trends, which will offer the initiative more legitimacy and facilitate its adoption both at a global and national level, avoiding the emergence of a patchwork of Internet regulations. To access the infographic archive, click here.

All in all, moving beyond Marco Civil, the initiative strives to engage a global audience and implement effective Internet governance solutions in a pos-pandemic environment. Do you wish to support our initiative? Please enter your information below and we will get in touch with updates and opportunities to collaborate!