RightsCon Toronto 2018

Internet shutdowns cost globally about $2.4 billion USD and cause untold harm to trade, industry, and communities that rely on the free flow of information for growth and prosperity.

In this session, we will discuss and develop a concrete roadmap for the introduction of economic arguments into the day-to-day campaigning and policy-work using COST, a new data-driven policy tool that will automate the task of economic estimation. Our international panel brings together experts from legal, technology and policy backgrounds and invites active participation from the audience to better understand how a next-generation policy tool can impact internet freedom and digital rights community. How can we make policy work more visible to under-represented communities? How can we build advocacy tools that empower the general public?

Economic arguments have already proven to be a powerful tool to combat shutdowns in contexts where freedom of expression and other fundamental human rights are too often ignored, yet the numbers are difficult to produce hence rarely used when most needed.

COST, the Cost of Shutdown Tool, is a new technology initiative announced at the African Union Commission meeting in Addis Ababa by the Internet Society and NetBlocks.org built within the framework of the #KeepItOn campaign. It seeks to empower journalists, researchers, advocates, policy makers, businesses, and many others with economic arguments that make authorities listen.

Join us in the spirit of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and Internet Universality and as we find new ways to promote and leverage unrestricted Internet access as a driver of opportunities worldwide.