The Council of Europe is the continent’s leading human rights organisation. Its 47 member states are parties to the European Convention on Human Rights. The European Court of Human Rights oversees the implementation of the Convention. The Court’s case-law makes the Convention a powerful living instrument for addressing new challenges.
In accordance with the Court’s case-law, member States have the obligation to secure the rights and freedoms enshrined in the Convention to everyone within their jurisdiction, both offline and online. The rule of law is a prerequisite for the protection and promotion of the exercise of human rights and for pluralistic and participatory democracy.
Based on these principles and drawing on the conclusions of the World Summit on the Information Society, the Council of Europe adopted the Declaration on internet governance principles (2011). It underpins the Organisation’s people-centered and rights-based approach to internet governance and identifies major features of the internet sourcing its public service value. ”
The Council of Europe participates in regional and global dialogue on internet governance, such as IGF, WSIS, EURODIG, SEEDIG, ICANN and others, providing policy orientations and instruments. On 3 June 2015, the Committee of Ministers adopted a Declaration on WSIS+10 review and the extension of the IGF mandate which reasserts the importance of multi-stakeholder dialogue on internet governance to respond to the challenges of the internet.
Latest Policy Orientations
2021 Ministerial Conference: Artificial intelligence – Intelligent politics: Challenges and opportunities for media and democracy Website Videos
Online Resources
Council of Europe: Website Videos Facebook Twitter WebTv Youtube Flickr
Human Rights and the Rule of Law: Website Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Instagram YouTube
Information Society: Leaflets Publications Events Facebook
Freedom of expression: Website Leaflets Publications Reports Events Videos YouTube
Data protection: Website Reports YouTube
Action against cybercrime: Website Reports Webinars YouTube
Artificial intelligence: Website Videos Webinars Twitter Facebook YouTube
Council of Europe at IGF 2021 Website
Overview of sessions (co-)organised / supported by the Council of Europe
7 December, 17:30-18:30 CET
Open Forum #4 Free expression and digitalisation: compatibility mode
9 December, 16:50-17:50 CET
Open Forum #16 Globalpolicy.ai
10 December, 9.30-10.30 CET
Open Forum #57 The role of regulation in a post pandemic context
Special participations:
Jan Kleijssen, Director of Information Society and Action against Crime Directorate will participate as a speaker to:
6 December, 15:15-16:15 CET High Level Panel 4: How to promote inclusive and diverse innovation, investment opportunities and corporate social responsibility in digital technologies?
9 December, 9:30-11:00 CET UNESCO's Dynamic Coalition on IUIs session
Patrick Penninkcx, Head of Information Society Department will participate as keynote speaker to:
9 December, 13:50-14:50 CET WS #175 Clash of Digital Civilizations: Governments and Tech Giants
9 December, 15:05-16:35 CET IGF Coalition for Platform Responsibility
He will also contribute to the Preface to the Glossary of Platform Law and Policy Terms
Kristian Bartholin, Head of the Digital Development Unit
9 December, 09:30 to 11:00 CET WS #196 Human Rights Impact Assessments throughout the AI lifecycle