The Global Network Initiative released a Report on Digital Freedoms in International Law earlier this week. The Report outlines several practical steps that Corporations, States, NGOs and Inter-Governmental organizations should take to comply with existing international law obligation. Apart from the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights the Report relies heavily on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights to ‘provide a comprehensive framework in which companies can address their responsibility to respect human rights.’ The Report concludes that ‘Companies faced with state demands that violate human rights have a duty to minimise the extent of any such cooperation. They must assess in advance the human rights risks in countries where they operate, take measures to minimise these risks, and help the victims of any enforced cooperation.’ Given the number of take down requests that network service providers receive from the Indian government agencies, they may do well to take this recommendation rather seriously.
