UN Adopts Internet Rights Protection Resolution

Amendments from Russia and China were rejected as “defocusing attention”

Last week, June 27, the United Nations adopted a resolution on the promotion, protection and enjoyment of human rights on the Internet .

According to the text of the document, the UN General Assembly called on countries to reconsider their position on intercepting information, reading correspondence, collecting personal data and monitoring their own citizens. Along with this, concern was expressed that modern technologies are actively used by terrorist groups. The resolution condemns any blockages and restrictions on access to the Internet. It is proposed to fight crime with the help of the search for alternatives and the establishment of interaction between the structures responsible for security and society.

In fact, the document adopted by the General Assembly runs counter to the latest “anti-terrorism amendments” by Yarovoy-Ozerov .

On June 24, 2016, the State Duma of the Russian Federation fully adopted the entire package of amendments proposed by the chairman of the Duma’s security committee Irina Yarovoy and the head of the committee of the Federation Council for Defense and Security Viktor Ozerov. According to the document, in order to follow the letter of the law, all providers and telecom operators will have to store correspondence and conversations of subscribers for up to one year (and information about the fact of the communication session up to three years) and provide access to them upon request of the relevant departments.

Documents like the Yarovoy-Ozerov package, according to the General Assembly, directly violate civil rights and freedoms of citizens.

Unlike previous resolutions that were adopted back in 2012 and 2014, the current version of the document pays special attention to the inadmissibility of Internet censorship in all its manifestations against the background of an increasing trend of tightening control over the network by several governments.

Alexei Goltyaev, the Russian representative at the UN, tried to shift the focus from civil rights and freedoms, the protection of personal data and privacy to privacy as such. So, as an example of a violation of confidentiality, Goltyaev cited the publication of secret data by Edward Snowden, illegal wiretapping and hacking. Special attention was paid to the fact that, by such resolutions, some states lobby for the preservation of their key role in ensuring the operability of the network.

Alexey Goltyaev’s words reflect the general state position regarding the non-Russian segment of the network, which is considered, first of all, as a potentially dangerous and aggressive region for the interests of the state.

It is not known whether governments will heed the UN and whether they will look for alternative ways and methods of combating terror other than establishing total surveillance of their own population. On the example of the Russian Federation, it is clear that decisions similar to the Yarovaya-Ozerov package are counter-productive. Based on the reaction of mobile operators and Internet providers, coercion to such measures over a long distance of several decades will result not only in a tariff increase of 200 percent or more, but also in the general stagnation of the sector and, importantly, put an end to most strategic infrastructure plans for the development of the industry. At the same time, one of the authors of the package, Mr. Ozerov, says that the growth of tariffs for communication services will not exceed 11%.