Markdown Version | Session Recording

Session Date/Time: 21 Jul 2025 15:00

hrpc

Summary

The Human Rights Protocol Considerations Research Group (HRPC) meeting focused on the interplay between human rights and protocols. The session included presentations on rewilding the internet, internet shutdowns in Iran, and international law considerations regarding ICT activities during armed conflict. There was also a discussion regarding the IPV draft document, and a new censorship mailing list.

Key Discussion Points

• Rewilding the Internet (Maria Farrell):
  • The internet is currently concentrated and consolidated, resembling a monoculture agricultural plantation rather than a diverse ecosystem.
  • Prussian scientific forestry as an example of how simplification and extraction can lead to ecological damage.
  • The concept of rewilding the internet involves promoting diversity, complexity, and resilience in its infrastructure and protocols.
  • Importance of open standards, collaboration, and reusable building blocks for a healthy internet ecosystem.
  • Protocol washing as a concerning trend where large companies bring their proprietary protocols to the IETF for standardization.
• Internet Shutdowns in Iran (Shabnam):
  • Evolution of Iran's capabilities in implementing internet shutdowns from 2009 to the present.
  • The development of the National Information Network (NIN) as a means of controlling and surveilling online communication.
  • The government's use of internet shutdowns during protests and periods of political unrest.
  • Analysis of the 2025 internet shutdown, the most sophisticated response to date.
  • Concerns about the human rights implications of increasingly frequent and easily implemented shutdowns.
  • Filtering techniques now drop all connections to international destinations.
  • Some international APIs such as Google Web Search and Google Maps are sometimes whitelisted.
• International Law Considerations and ICT Activities during Armed Conflict (Chantal Joris):
  • Warfare is increasingly becoming digital, with cyber attacks and surveillance playing a significant role in armed conflicts.
  • The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court is developing a policy on how cyber activities can amount to international crimes.
  • Freedom of expression remains a fundamental right during armed conflict, and is vital for civilians to access information and humanitarian relief.
  • International humanitarian law (IHL) applies alongside human rights in armed conflict, restricting the means and methods of warfare.
  • Discussions are taking place regarding how IHL principles, such as distinction and proportionality, apply to ICT activities in cyberspace.
  • The role of tech companies in providing infrastructure and capabilities for non-kinetic operations in armed conflict raises complex ethical and legal issues.
• Intimate Partner Violence Digital Considerations Draft:
  • Update on the intimate partner violence digital considerations draft document, a polished version exists, and the authors are looking for comments.
  • There are separate drafts covering intimate partner violence.

Decisions and Action Items

• Action Item: Send out a new non-expired version of the intimate partner violence digital considerations draft within two weeks. The authors will then do last call.
• Action Item: HRPC to review the document from the adult working group on location trackers.
• Decision: Separate drafts on surveillance via coercion.
• Action Item: Nick Sullivan will send an email to the HRPC list about the censorship mailing list.

Next Steps

• Continue discussions on the HRPC mailing list.
• Engage with the armor mailing list related to censorship.
• Finalize the intimate partner violence digital considerations draft.