Governação da internet e direitos humanos

: em especial, a vinculação da ICANN aos direitos de acesso à internet, liberdade de expressão e proteção de dados pessoais

Abstract

The study of the theme “Internet Governance” and of its connection with the “Human Rights Protection” aims to highlight the context of a progressive movement towards the integration, interposition, or intersection of human rights within the framework and scope of governance of the critical resources that allow for electronic communications to be made possible through the network commonly known as the Internet. The complex structure and functioning of the institutions that, in a scattered and decentralized way, play a leading role in the governance of the Internet have not hindered the gradual affirmation of the fundamental rights of Internet users who seek to exist and be represented on the network of networks. Initially, the discussion centered on the rise of a new and autonomous branch of law following the advent and popularization of the Internet (a new “cybernetic law”, as Oliveira Ascensão would say, “Internet law”, or “cyberlaw”, according with Barrio Andrés). Later, various norms, principles, and institutes were established and recognized that currently make up its legal regime. More recently, the controversial issue of subjecting ICANN – the main organization responsible for administering the protocols and technical standards underlying the functioning of the Internet – to constitutional and international canons of human rights protection has been raised. Despite the initial resistance to accept the non-neutral character of an institution with essentially technical competencies, the increasing importance and influence of its activity and power – increasingly subject to scrutiny and external pressures – in ensuring the functioning of the Internet have forced the need for ICANN to abide with guarantees of respect for human rights. This has compelled it to fulfill obligations of accountability and transparency, to aspire to (pseudo) democratic legitimacy, as well as, consequently, to respect and protect rights in the online domain, including the right to access the Internet, the right to freedom of expression and the right to privacy and personal data protection. These essential topics, including the impact of this “new law” on the legal sphere of Internet users and the increasing role that human rights are being called upon to play in the governance of the Internet, as well as the inseparable relationship between both, are the subjects that this study proposes to address. Studying law and rights on the Internet, and especially understanding their regime and forms of exercise at the level of the network's governance, assumes unprecedented importance today. Everyone recognizes the massive gradual penetration of the Internet into the lives of all of us, opening doors to information and knowledge, transforming habits, revolutionizing forms of work and personal experiences. However, the importance of the issues to be addressed is also salient because there is very little national scientific production on them, as well as the observation that the legal discussion on the relationship between Internet governance and human rights seems to be taking its first steps, with the first dogmatic and doctrinal theorizations having emerged only very recently. In fact, despite some recent studies developed mainly within the Council of Europe, we do not know of any national or foreign work or monograph specifically on the relationship between human rights and the phenomenon of Internet governance.

Date of Award	13 Dec 2024
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Mário Aroso de Almeida (Supervisor)