Four new civil rights related to online behaviour are to be proposed with a view to being enshrined in the law, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi announced yesterday.
The internet is not simply a communication tool for the young; it is for everybody
A Bill introducing these four rights – the right to internet access, the right to access information online, online freedom of expression and the right to exchange information online – is due to be presented in the coming weeks.
The announcement came hot on the heels of a sizeable protest march expressing concerns about the eventual online repercussions of the Anti-Counterfeit Trade Agreement, an international agreement which seeks to tighten copyright protection.
Dr Gonzi acknowledged citizens’ concerns about Acta, saying that while the government was in favour of protecting rights-holders, it had to ensure that in doing so it did not impinge on other civil liberties.
“We cannot allow the protection of one set of rights to overrun others,” Dr Gonzi said.
“The government is not in favour of any measures that could potentially suffocate citizen’s rights to acquire, share or communicate information.”
Acta is currently being debated at both national and European parliamentary level.
Dr Gonzi told The Sunday Times that the national debate on Acta would continue, with the four new civil laws – which he hopes will be enshrined in the Constitution – acting “as a safeguard to ensure citizens’ digital rights are protected”.
With details still sketchy, it remains unclear what the four newly-announced civil rights will mean in practice.
Digital rights are a relatively new field in human rights law, with few legislative precedents to look towards. Entrenching these civil rights into the Constitution would potentially place Malta at the forefront of the digital rights frontier.
Proposals by international conglomerations of civil society organisations calling for a universal bill of internet rights have fallen on deaf ears, while the UN-sponsored World Summit on Information Society conferences in 2003 and 2005 yielded little of tangible benefit.
A number of EU states, including Spain, France, Estonia and Latvia, have already made the right to internet access a human right. In those states, the right has forced internet service providers to provide every unconnected home with rudimentary internet access.
Dr Gonzi reiterated the government’s belief in the important role technology and the internet played in modern-day living, saying internet access had brought about social, educational, economic and personal changes to people’s lives.
“The internet is not simply a communication tool for the young; it is for everybody. Our future depends on making the best use of information technology, which is why it is essential that we guarantee these four new rights,” Dr Gonzi said.