Australian Human Rights Commission
Human Rights in the Digital Age: Additional Material Submitted to the UN Global Digital Compact, 30 April 2023
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Consultations
6. Although the views expressed in this submission are those of the
Commission, they have been informed by the views and opinions
expressed by participants throughout the consultation process.
7. The Commission facilitated two consultations with a range of stakeholders
and experts from civil society, business, regulators and government.
8. Participants were provided with a Consultation Note when they were
invited to attend the sessions. The Consultation Note set out what the
Commission requested stakeholders to bear in mind when engaging in the
consultations. It emphasised that participants should consider:
•
input on the core principles that all governments, companies, civil
society organizations, and other stakeholders should adhere to in
respect of the topic areas.
•
key commitments to bring about these specific principles. These could
take the form of what should be done and/or based on what has
already been done.
9. The Commission also encouraged invitees to provide written input via
email where they were unable to attend the online consultations, or if they
wished to further expand upon what was discussed.
10. Each consultation was held via Microsoft Teams and conducted under the
‘Chatham House Rule’. Australian Human Rights Commissioner, Lorraine
Finlay, provided the introduction to participants while the consultation was
facilitated by Human Rights Advisor (Business and Technology), Patrick
Hooton.
11. The first consultation was held on Monday, 3 April, and covered the
protection of data and the promotion of the regulation of artificial
intelligence (AI). The first half of the consultation was dedicated to seeking
the views of participants on the protection of data. The second half was
utilised to discuss the regulation of AI.
12. The second consultation was held on Thursday, 6 April, and covered
applying human rights online and introducing accountability criteria for
discrimination and misleading content. The first half of the consultation
was dedicated to seeking the views of participants on applying human
rights online. The second half discussed the introduction of accountability
criteria for discrimination and misleading content.
13. Across the two sessions, 36 participants engaged in the Commission’s
consultations on the Compact. A further 7 stakeholders provided written
submissions.
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