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CBD Press Release: Latvia becomes the first country to ratify the Nagoya - Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol on Liability and Redress




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CBD News: The Nagoya-Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol on Liability and Redress to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety closed for signature yesterday with a total of 51 signatories.




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CBD News: Ireland ratified the Nagoya - Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol on Liability and Redress on 14 January 2013.




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CBD Communiqué: European Union approves Nagoya - Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol on Liability and Redress




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CBD News: Germany and Cambodia, on 27 and 30 August 2013 respectively, became the most recent countries to ratify/accede to the Nagoya - Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol on Liability and Redress to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety.




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CBD News: The Nagoya-Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol on Liability and Redress reaches the halfway mark to entry into force with ratification by Hungary.




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CBD News: The GBIF Secretariat has launched the inaugural GBIF Ebbe Nielsen Challenge, hoping to inspire innovative applications of open-access biodiversity data by scientists, informaticians, data modelers, cartographers and other experts competing for a




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CBD News: With Denmark's ratification on 25 February, the Nagoya-Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol on Liability and Redress to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety has received 75% of the necessary ratifications, with only 11 more ratifications neede




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CBD News: With Slovakia's ratification on 29 April 2015, the Nagoya-Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol on Liability and Redress to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety needs only nine more ratifications to enter into force.




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CBD News: The Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Mr. Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, applauds the Arctic Partnership announced Thursday by United States President Barack Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Washi




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CBD News: Montreal, 25 May 2016 - With Congo's accession on 16 May 2016, the Nagoya-Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol on Liability and Redress to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety needs only six more ratifications to enter into force.




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CBD News: With Swaziland's accession on 21 September 2016, the Nagoya-Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol on Liability and Redress to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety needs only four more ratifications to enter into force.




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CBD News: All around the world, wetlands provide huge benefits, including clean water, ensuring a stable water supply, and providing important habitat to a wide variety of species.




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CBD News: Cuba deposited its instrument of accession to the Nagoya - Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol on Liability and Redress to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety on 26 April 2017. Thus only three more ratifications are required for the Supplementa




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CBD News: Central African Republic deposited its instrument of ratification to the Nagoya - Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol on Liability and Redress to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety on 15 June 2017.




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CBD News: With the Democratic Republic of the Congo depositing its instrument of accession on 4 October 2017, the Nagoya-Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol on Liability and Redress to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety needs only one more instrument of




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CBD News: The Nagoya-Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol on Liability and Redress to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, following the deposit of the instrument of acceptance by Japan on 5 December 2017, will enter into force on 5 March 2018.




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CBD News: The Nagoya-Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol on Liability and Redress to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety enters into force today, 5 March 2018.




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CBD Notification SCBD/IMS/JMF/JBF/NP/CR/WS/IH/88601 (2020-006): Call for Applications: 2020 Global Youth Biodiversity Summit in Miyazaki




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A linearly convergent majorized ADMM with indefinite proximal terms for convex composite programming and its applications

Ning Zhang, Jia Wu and Liwei Zhang
Math. Comp. 89 (2020), 1867-1894.
Abstract, references and article information





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Stability of the Stokes projection on weighted spaces and applications

Ricardo G. Durán, Enrique Otárola and Abner J. Salgado
Math. Comp. 89 (2020), 1581-1603.
Abstract, references and article information




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Zhu reduction for Jacobi ????-point functions and applications

Kathrin Bringmann, Matthew Krauel and Michael Tuite
Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. 373 (2020), 3261-3293.
Abstract, references and article information




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LawTech Fund applications set

The Government today announced the establishment of a LawTech Fund to help law firms and barristers' chambers procure and upgrade information technology (IT) systems and arrange lawtech training courses for their staff.

 

In a statement, the Department of Justice said the LawTech Fund, established under the Anti-epidemic Fund, will be open for applications from April 28 and cater to small and medium-size law firms as well as barristers’ chambers.

 

Applications will be accepted for two months and those eligible can receive a reimbursement of up to $50,000.

 

The Law Society of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Bar Association will establish a joint committee to assess the applications and arrange funding disbursement.

 

More than 60% of law firms and 50% of barristers' chambers in Hong Kong are expected to benefit from the funding.

 

As for funding eligibility, law firms or chambers must have five or fewer practising lawyers as at April 8 and at the time of granting the subsidy.

 

The subsidies must be used for procuring and upgrading IT systems, including but not confined to video-conferencing facilities. The lawtech training that is to receive the subsidy must be recognised and approved by the joint committee.

 

The application form and guidance notes are available at the homepages of the Law Society and the Bar Association.

 

The Secretary for Justice has given an outline of the fund and discussed lawtech in her blog.




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New niche applications set

More than 40,000 new niches at two columbaria in Tuen Mun and Fanling will open for applications from May 11, the Food & Environmental Hygiene Department announced today.

 

Tsang Tsui Columbarium in Tuen Mun will provide 22,680 standard niches and 220 large niches, while Wo Hop Shek Columbarium in Fanling will provide 21,720 standard niches and 330 large niches for application.

 

The department said applicants should only file one application form to apply for either a large or standard niche for the same deceased person.

 

It said applicants have to fill in the particulars of at least three deceased people when applying for a large niche.

 

Since the type and number of niches available in the two columbaria are different, the chance of successful allocation varies, the department added.

  

The application deadline is June 10.

 

Click here for details.




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Evaluation and Evolution of Diabetes Mobile Applications: Key Factors for Health Care Professionals Seeking to Guide Patients

Ryan A. Ristau
Nov 1, 2013; 26:211-215
From Research to Practice




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Support scheme applications set

The Government will launch the Subsidy Scheme for Beauty Parlours, Massage Establishments & Party Rooms under the second round of the Anti-epidemic Fund on May 11.

 

A sum of $1.1 billion has been earmarked for the scheme, which is expected to benefit 12,400 beauty parlours and massage establishments as well as 500 party rooms.

 

The subsidy is expected to be disbursed from late this month.

 

Under the scheme, each eligible beauty parlour or massage establishment will receive a one-off tiered subsidy of $30,000, $60,000 or $100,000, depending on its number of workers.

 

Each eligible party room will receive a one-off subsidy of $40,000.

 

Applications will only be accepted online. The application deadline is May 17.

 

The scheme also covers premises which are operated by social enterprises.

 

For premises with business registration, social enterprise operators should file their applications through the online application system.

 

Those without business registration should directly approach the Hong Kong Council of Social Service at 2864 2993 or by email to obtain its certification and submit their applications.

 

Call 1836 188 or send an email for enquiries.




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Ring Theory and Its Applications

Dinh Van Huynh, S. K. Jain, and Sergio R. Lopez-Permouth, Ohio University, and S. Tariq Rizvi and Cosmin S. Roman, Ohio State University, Editors - AMS, 2014, 311 pp., Softcover, ISBN-13: 978-0-8218-8797-4, List: US$113, All AMS Members: US$90.40, CONM/609

This volume contains the proceedings of the Ring Theory Session in honor of T. Y. Lam's 70th birthday, at the 31st Ohio State-Denison Mathematics...




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Brazilian and Indian scientists produce crystal with many potential applications

(Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo) Thanks to its magnetic properties, the material -- zinc-doped manganese chromite -- can be used in a range of products, from gas sensors to data storage devices.




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Affinity maturation, humanization, and co-crystallization of a rabbit anti-human ROR2 monoclonal antibody for therapeutic applications [Immunology]

Antibodies are widely used as cancer therapeutics, but their current use is limited by the low number of antigens restricted to cancer cells. A receptor tyrosine kinase, receptor tyrosine kinase-like orphan receptor 2 (ROR2), is normally expressed only during embryogenesis and is tightly down-regulated in postnatal healthy tissues. However, it is up-regulated in a diverse set of hematologic and solid malignancies, thus ROR2 represents a candidate antigen for antibody-based cancer therapy. Here we describe the affinity maturation and humanization of a rabbit mAb that binds human and mouse ROR2 but not human ROR1 or other human cell-surface antigens. Co-crystallization of the parental rabbit mAb in complex with the human ROR2 kringle domain (hROR2-Kr) guided affinity maturation by heavy-chain complementarity-determining region 3 (HCDR3)-focused mutagenesis and selection. The affinity-matured rabbit mAb was then humanized by complementarity-determining region (CDR) grafting and framework fine tuning and again co-crystallized with hROR2-Kr. We show that the affinity-matured and humanized mAb retains strong affinity and specificity to ROR2 and, following conversion to a T cell–engaging bispecific antibody, has potent cytotoxicity toward ROR2-expressing cells. We anticipate that this humanized affinity-matured mAb will find application for antibody-based cancer therapy of ROR2-expressing neoplasms.




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Hong Kong Scholarship for Excellence Scheme opens for applications




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New round of applications under Quality Enhancement Support Scheme opens




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EDB to launch new round of E-APP applications tomorrow




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First School Allocation Exercise 2020 invites applications for five kindergarten premises in public housing estates




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Application deadline extended for First School Allocation Exercise 2020 for allocation of five new estate kindergarten premises




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Application arrangements for Scheme for Admission of Hong Kong Students to Mainland Higher Education Institutions for 2020




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Award Scheme for Learning Experiences under Qualifications Framework opens for application




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Integration and Application of Knowledge, Experience and Resources Supporting Students with Special Educational Needs in the Epidemic




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Application for Exemption from the Language Proficiency Requirement is to close on 29 May 2020




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Support schemes applications open

The Government today announced that applications are open for several support schemes following the funding approval of the second round of the Anti-epidemic Fund and other relief measures by the Legislative Council Finance Committee.

 

The Club-house Subsidy Scheme, which provides a one-off subsidy of $100,000 to eligible club-houses, is now open for application. The deadline for application is May 18.

 

Upon submission of the completed application form and supporting documents, the disbursement of subsidies could generally be made in around two weeks.

 

The Travel Agents & Practitioners Support Scheme and the Hotel Sector Support Scheme are also open for applications, with the deadlines on June 15 and May 18 respectively.

 

The Subsidy Scheme for the Refuse Transfer Station Account Holders for Transporting Municipal Solid Waste, which offers a one-off subsidy of $8,000 to each of the eligible private municipal solid waste collectors operating in the first quarter, was also endorsed.

 

To ease the application procedures, the Environmental Protection Department will post cheques to recipients of this special subsidy in about a week after the funding endorsement.

 

Meanwhile, the total guarantee commitment of the Special 100% Loan Guarantee under the SME Financing Guarantee Scheme has been increased to $50 billion.

 

The maximum loan amount per enterprise has been increased to $4 million and the principal moratorium arrangement has been extended to the first 12 months.

 

The Special 100% Loan Guarantee will start receiving applications from April 20 and the application period has been extended to one year.




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SAS Notes for SAS®9 - 65925: Clicking a URL for a stored process in Excel brings up the SAS Stored Process Web Application Welcome page

After you submit a stored process from the SAS Stored Process Web Application, the generated URL is placed into a cell in a Microsoft Excel worksheet. When you click this URL, you expect that the stored process is sub




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New Study Measures Impact of U.S. Treasury Supply Versus Fed’s Monetary Policy on Bank Deposit Funding

Tuesday, January 28, 2020 - 13:00

New Research from Columbia Business School Challenges Conventional Wisdom of Bank Funding




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Alternative resupply plan for RV Polarstern now in place

(Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research) Thanks to the support of additional German research vessels, the MOSAiC expedition will continue, despite the coronavirus pandemic. The new team will start in May.




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Fine-Tuning Control: Pattern Management Versus Supplementation: View 1: Pattern Management: an Essential Component of Effective Insulin Management

Jan Pearson
Apr 1, 2001; 14:
Articles




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Diabetes Self-Management Education for Older Adults: General Principles and Practical Application

Emmy Suhl
Oct 1, 2006; 19:234-240
Articles




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State Cyber Interventions Below the Threshold of the Use of Force: Challenges in the Application of International Law

Invitation Only Research Event

30 April 2019 - 10:00am to 4:00pm

Chatham House | 10 St James's Square | London | SW1Y 4LE

Event participants

Chair: Elizabeth Wilmshurst, Distinguished Fellow, International Law Programme, Chatham House

Under what circumstances will a state-sponsored cyberattack on another state that falls below the threshold of the use of force be a breach of international law – for example, hacking into another state’s electoral databases, usurping inherently governmental functions such as parliamentary processes or an attack on another state’s financial system? In the dynamic field of state cyber operations, persistent, low-level cyberattacks are increasing, as are multilateral attempts to attribute the attacks to the states responsible. There is general agreement that international law applies to cyberspace but the question is how it applies and with what consequences.     
   
This meeting will bring together a small group of academics and practitioners to explore the application of international law to states’ cyber operations that interfere in the internal affairs of another state and which fall below the threshold of the use of force. What is the law on non-intervention in international law and how does it apply to states’ cyber activities? Does the Nicaragua case represent the best expression of the law in this area including the requirement of coercion? And are there any other principles of international law that are relevant? The meeting will also consider processes and procedures for agreeing on the law and best practices.
 
The purpose of the meeting will be to inform a research paper by Chatham House.
 
Attendance at this event is by invitation only.

Event attributes

Chatham House Rule

Department/project




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Cyber Interference in Elections: Applying a Human Rights Framework

Invitation Only Research Event

7 May 2019 - 10:00am to 4:15pm

Chatham House | 10 St James's Square | London | SW1Y 4LE

The use of social media, including algorithms, bots and micro-targeted advertising, has developed rapidly while there has been a policy lag in identifying and addressing the challenges posed to democracy by the manipulation of voters through cyber activity. 
 
What role should international human rights law play in developing a normative framework to address potential harms caused by such cyber activity including the closing down of democratic space, the spread of disinformation and hate speech?
 
This meeting will bring together a small group of academics and practitioners to explore the implications of applying a human rights framework to both the activities of social media companies and the activities of governments and international organizations in seeking to regulate their activity. The purpose of the meeting will be to inform a report that will provide an overview of the applicable law and recommendations for how that law might inform future policy and regulation. 
 
Attendance at this event is by invitation only.

Event attributes

Chatham House Rule




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Tackling Cyber Disinformation in Elections: Applying International Human Rights Law

Research Event

6 November 2019 - 5:30pm to 7:00pm

Chatham House | 10 St James's Square | London | SW1Y 4LE

Susie Alegre, Barrister and Associate Tenant, Doughty Street Chambers
Evelyn Aswad, Professor of Law and the Herman G. Kaiser Chair in International Law, University of Oklahoma
Barbora Bukovská, Senior Director for Law and Policy, Article 19
Kate Jones, Director, Diplomatic Studies Programme, University of Oxford
Chair: Harriet Moynihan, Associate Fellow, International Law Programme, Chatham House

Cyber operations are increasingly used by political parties, their supporters and foreign states to influence electorates – from algorithms promoting specific messages to micro-targeting based on personal data and the creation of filter bubbles.
 
The risks of digital tools spreading disinformation and polarizing debate, as opposed to deepening democratic engagement, have been highlighted by concerns over cyber interference in the UK’s Brexit referendum, the 2016 US presidential elections and in Ukraine. 
 
While some governments are adopting legislation in an attempt to address some of these issues, for example Germany’s ‘NetzDG’ law and France’s ‘Law against the manipulation of information’, other countries have proposed an independent regulator as in the case of the UK’s Online Harms white paper. Meanwhile, the digital platforms, as the curators of content, are under increasing pressure to take their own measures to address data mining and manipulation in the context of elections. 

How do international human rights standards, for example on freedom of thought, expression and privacy, guide the use of digital technology in the electoral context? What practical steps can governments and technology actors take to ensure policies, laws and practices are in line with these fundamental standards? And with a general election looming in the UK, will these steps come soon enough?
 
This event brings together a wide range of stakeholders including civil society, the tech sector, legal experts and government, coincides with the publication of a Chatham House research paper on disinformation, elections and the human rights framework

Jacqueline Rowe

Programme Assistant, International Law Programme
020 7389 3287




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Sovereignty and Non-Intervention: The Application of International Law to State Cyberattacks

Research Event

4 December 2019 - 5:30pm to 7:00pm

Chatham House | 10 St James's Square | London | SW1Y 4LE

Event participants

Douglas, Legal Director, GCHQ
Zhixiong Huang, Luojia Chair of International Law, Wuhan University
Nemanja Malisevic, Director of Digital Diplomacy, Microsoft
Harriet Moynihan, Associate Fellow, International Law Programme, Chatham House
Chair: Elizabeth Wilmshurst, Distinguished Fellow, International Law Programme, Chatham House

International law applies to cyber operations – but views differ on exactly how. Does state-sponsored interference in another state's affairs using cyber means – for example,  disinformation campaigns in elections, disabling government websites, or disrupting transport systems – breach international law? If so, on what basis and how are the principles of sovereignty and non-intervention relevant? States are increasingly attributing cyber operations to other states and engaging in the debate on how international law applies, including circumstances that would justify countermeasures.

As states meet to debate these issues at the UN, the panel will explore how international law regulates cyberoperations by states, consider the prospects of progress at the UN, and assess the value of other initiatives.

This event coincides with the launch of a Chatham House research paper which analyses how the principles of sovereignty and intervention apply in the context of cyberoperations, and considers a way forward for agreeing a common understanding of cyber norms.

This event will bring together a broad group of actors, including policymakers, the private sector, legal experts and civil society, and will be followed by a drinks reception.

 

Jacqueline Rowe

Programme Assistant, International Law Programme
020 7389 3287




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Online Disinformation and Political Discourse: Applying a Human Rights Framework

6 November 2019

Although some digital platforms now have an impact on more people’s lives than does any one state authority, the international community has been slow to hold to account these platforms’ activities by reference to human rights law. This paper examines how human rights frameworks should guide digital technology.

Kate Jones

Associate Fellow, International Law Programme

2019-11-05-Disinformation.jpg

A man votes in Manhattan, New York City, during the US elections on 8 November 2016. Photo: Getty Images.

Summary

  • Online political campaigning techniques are distorting our democratic political processes. These techniques include the creation of disinformation and divisive content; exploiting digital platforms’ algorithms, and using bots, cyborgs and fake accounts to distribute this content; maximizing influence through harnessing emotional responses such as anger and disgust; and micro-targeting on the basis of collated personal data and sophisticated psychological profiling techniques. Some state authorities distort political debate by restricting, filtering, shutting down or censoring online networks.
  • Such techniques have outpaced regulatory initiatives and, save in egregious cases such as shutdown of networks, there is no international consensus on how they should be tackled. Digital platforms, driven by their commercial impetus to encourage users to spend as long as possible on them and to attract advertisers, may provide an environment conducive to manipulative techniques.
  • International human rights law, with its careful calibrations designed to protect individuals from abuse of power by authority, provides a normative framework that should underpin responses to online disinformation and distortion of political debate. Contrary to popular view, it does not entail that there should be no control of the online environment; rather, controls should balance the interests at stake appropriately.
  • The rights to freedom of thought and opinion are critical to delimiting the appropriate boundary between legitimate influence and illegitimate manipulation. When digital platforms exploit decision-making biases in prioritizing bad news and divisive, emotion-arousing information, they may be breaching these rights. States and digital platforms should consider structural changes to digital platforms to ensure that methods of online political discourse respect personal agency and prevent the use of sophisticated manipulative techniques.
  • The right to privacy includes a right to choose not to divulge your personal information, and a right to opt out of trading in and profiling on the basis of your personal data. Current practices in collecting, trading and using extensive personal data to ‘micro-target’ voters without their knowledge are not consistent with this right. Significant changes are needed.
  • Data protection laws should be implemented robustly, and should not legitimate extensive harvesting of personal data on the basis of either notional ‘consent’ or the data handler’s commercial interests. The right to privacy should be embedded in technological design (such as by allowing the user to access all information held on them at the click of a button); and political parties should be transparent in their collection and use of personal data, and in their targeting of messages. Arguably, the value of personal data should be shared with the individuals from whom it derives.
  • The rules on the boundaries of permissible content online should be set by states, and should be consistent with the right to freedom of expression. Digital platforms have had to rapidly develop policies on retention or removal of content, but those policies do not necessarily reflect the right to freedom of expression, and platforms are currently not well placed to take account of the public interest. Platforms should be far more transparent in their content regulation policies and decision-making, and should develop frameworks enabling efficient, fair, consistent internal complaints and content monitoring processes. Expertise on international human rights law should be integral to their systems.
  • The right to participate in public affairs and to vote includes the right to engage in public debate. States and digital platforms should ensure an environment in which all can participate in debate online and are not discouraged from standing for election, from participating or from voting by online threats or abuse.