The Global Network Initiative (GNI) is a non-governmental organization with the dual goals of preventing Internet censorship by authoritarian governments and protecting the Internet privacy rights of individuals. It is sponsored by a coalition of multinational corporations, non-profit organizations, and universities.

History

On October 29, 2008, the Global Network Initiative (GNI) was founded upon its "Principles of Freedom of Expression and Privacy". The Initiative was launched in the 60th anniversary year of the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a UN committee chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt ...

(UDHR), and is based on internationally recognized laws and standards for

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

freedom of expression Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recog ...

and

privacy Privacy (, ) is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves, and thereby express themselves selectively. The domain of privacy partially overlaps with security, which can include the concepts of ...

set out in the UDHR, the

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) is a multilateral treaty that commits nations to respect the civil and political rights of individuals, including the right to life, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, fre ...

(ICCPR) and the

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) is a multilateral treaty adopted by the United Nations General Assembly (GA) on 16 December 1966 through GA. Resolution 2200A (XXI), and came in force from 3 January 197 ...

(ICESCR).

Profile

As a human rights organization, GNI seeks to safeguard freedom of expression and personal privacy against government restrictions. The protections are facilitated by a coalition of companies, investors, civil society organizations, academics, and other stakeholders. GNI esteems freedom of expression and privacy each as a "human right and guarantor of human dignity". Participants are expected to respect and protect information available to users and users' ability to freely create and distribute information, provided that they operate outside narrowly defined circumstances necessary to adhere to international laws and standards set by the

(ICCPR). Participants are also expected to protect users' personal information from illegal or arbitrary interference when confronted with government demands, laws, or regulations that compromise a user's privacy. The same principle of adherence of international laws and standards applies. Collaboration among stakeholders is key to the goals of the Global Network Initiative. The GNI's outline of principles encourages participants to explore ways to engage governments advance their cause, individually or collectively. GNI recognizes that the actions of their corporate participants alone cannot guarantee the protection of human rights. One fundamental commitment is to promote the adoption of laws, policies, and practices that protect freedom of expression and privacy. GNI considers governments to be ultimately responsible for the fulfillment of their citizens' human rights, specifically pursuant to freedom of expression and privacy.

Staff and Board of Directors

*Judith Lichtenberg, Executive Director *

Mark Stephens (solicitor) * Mark Howard Stephens (born 7 April 1957) is an English solicitor specialising in media law, intellectual property rights, freedom of speech and human rights. He is known for representing James Hewitt when allegations of his affair with D ...

, Independent Chair ICT Companies: Miranda Sissons,

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dust ...

Lewis Segall,

Google Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...

Steve Crown,

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washi ...

LinkedIn LinkedIn () is an American business and employment-oriented online service that operates via websites and mobile apps. Launched on May 5, 2003, the platform is primarily used for professional networking and career development, and allows job se ...

Fiona Cura-Pitre,

Nokia Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational telecommunications, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, established in 1865. Nokia's main headquarters are in Espoo, Finland, i ...

Yves Nissim, Orange Anita Househam,

Telenor Group Telenor ASA ( or ) is a Norwegian majority state-owned multinational telecommunications company headquartered at Fornebu in Bærum, close to Oslo. It is one of the world's largest mobile telecommunications companies with operations worldwide, ...

Patrik Hiselius,

Telia Company Telia Company AB is a Swedish multinational telecommunications company and mobile network operator present in Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Telia also owns TV4 Media which includes TV4 in Sweden, MTV Oy in F ...

Nicole Karlebach,

Verizon Media Verizon Communications Inc., commonly known as Verizon, is an American multinational telecommunications conglomerate and a corporate component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is headquartered at 1095 Avenue of the Americas in ...

Laura Okkonen, Vodafone Group Civil Society Organizations: Greg Nojeim,

Center for Democracy & Technology Centre for Democracy & Technology (CDT) is a Washington, D.C.-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organisation that advocates for digital rights and freedom of expression. CDT seeks to promote legislation that enables individuals to use the internet for pur ...

Robert Mahoney,

Committee to Protect Journalists The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is an American independent non-profit, non-governmental organization, based in New York City, New York, with correspondents around the world. CPJ promotes press freedom and defends the rights of jou ...

Charles Bradley,

Global Partners Digital Global means of or referring to a globe and may also refer to: Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 1989 * ''Global'' (Todd Rundgren album), 2015 * Bruno ...

Julie Owono,

Internet sans Frontières The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pu ...

Kat Duffy, Internews Academics and Academic Organizations: Jessica Fjeld,

Berkman Klein Center The Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society is a research center at Harvard University that focuses on the study of cyberspace. Founded at Harvard Law School, the center traditionally focused on internet-related legal issues. On May 15, 2008, ...

Meg Roggensack,

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private research university in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll in 1789 as Georgetown College, the university has grown to comprise eleven undergraduate and graduate ...

(Independent) K.S. Park, Korea University Law School (Independent) Investors" Adam Kanzer,

BNP Paribas BNP Paribas is a French international banking group, founded in 2000 from the merger between Banque Nationale de Paris (BNP, "National Bank of Paris") and Paribas, formerly known as the Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas. The full name of the grou ...

Asset Management Bennett Freeman, EIRIS Conflict Risk Network The Following members serve as Alternate Board Members: ICT Company Alternates: Moira Oliver,

BT Group BT Group plc ( trading as BT and formerly British Telecom) is a British multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered in London, England. It has operations in around 180 countries and is the largest provider of fixed-line, bro ...

Théo Jaekel,

Ericsson (lit. "Telephone Stock Company of LM Ericsson"), commonly known as Ericsson, is a Swedish multinational networking and telecommunications company headquartered in Stockholm. The company sells infrastructure, software, and services in inform ...

Alex Warofka, Facebook Alexandria Walden, Google Bernard Shen, Microsoft/LinkedIn Silvia Garrigo, Millicom Christoph Steck,

Telefónica Telefónica, S.A. () is a Spanish multinational telecommunications company headquartered in Madrid, Spain. It is one of the largest telephone operators and mobile network providers in the world. It provides fixed and mobile telephony, broadba ...

Dorothee D’Herde, Vodafone Group Civil Society Organization Alternates: Emma Llansó, Center for Democracy & Technology Elonnai Hickok, Centre for Internet and Society Usama Khilji, Bolo Bhi Arvind Ganesan, Human Rights Watch Andreas Reventlow, International Media Support Academic Alternates: Chinmayi Arun, (Independent) Agustina Del Campo, Centro de Estudios en Libertad de Expresión Molly Land, UConn Human Rights Institute Investor Alternate: Lauren Compere, Boston Common Asset Management

Participants

The Global Network Initiative requires participating companies to integrate their principles deeply into their decision-making and culture. GNI's founding companies include

Yahoo Yahoo! (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web services provider. It is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and operated by the namesake company Yahoo! Inc. (2017–present), Yahoo Inc., which is 90% owned by investment funds ma ...

(now Oath Inc.), and

joined GNI in 2013. In 2017, seven telecommunications operator and vendor companies joined GNI.

Notes and references

External links

Global Network Initiative official site

GNI Participants
{{privacy Civil liberties advocacy groups Computer law organizations Foundations based in the United States Intellectual property activism Internet-related activism Organizations established in 2008 Politics and technology Privacy organizations Internet censorship