An information and communications technology expert, Dr. Jim Olufuye has warned against the use of the rule of law to control activities in the internet stressing that such application of the law could turned out to be a setback to development.
Olufuye who is the chief executive officer of Kontemporary and Vice-Chairman,World Information Technology and Service Alliance (WITSA) in a document made available to the Nigerian Compass, observed that “everyone needs justice on the Internet, from the children, to consumers, users, producers, suppliers, organisations and states with regard to privacy, freedom of expression, security and other such rights. The rule of law prevails in the offline world but not yet matured in the online world”.
He said that the internet has become the imposing phenomenon of the modern era having been able to “define the way we live, work, learn, share and govern”.
According to him, it would be retrogressive to apply the rule of law to the use of the internet the way it is done in governance “because of its open, transparent and inherent multi-faceted nature that has engendered unprecedented access to information and wealth across the world”
He added that the internet has shrunk the world into what today is known as the 'global village' wherein information that hitherto could not be accessed due to distance can be available instantly.
Speaking further on the vast impact of the internet, Olufuye said that the internet has deferred geographical boundaries across the globe as a borderless online world without national boundaries noting that it has given birth to new citizens called global citizens or online citizens.
Olufuye however said that there is the need for the maintenance of law and order in the internet saying “how do we ensure that criminals do not operate with impunity? How do we ensure citizens’ rights to privacy, freedom of speech and assembly among others are not trampled upon by anyone not even the state? How do we ensure that there is justice on the Internet? How do we ensure that
core principles of decorum, civility and the right of children to participate online without abuse are protected?”
In tackling those challenges, he suggested that the challenges must rely on innovation, a key catalyst of the Internet which over the past 43years of its evolution has ensured its resilience.
He explained that: “the idea of doing something in a different way has not only benefitted the global economy, it has also added immense value to human life and dignity. The last frontier of the process concerns to how the Internet is governed to ensure the advancement of the rule of law in the online world”.
For instance he said there are some inputs that have made to salvage the internet from the ambit of the unguided control of the internet saying some of such was the results of the World Summit on Information Society 2005, which lead to the establishment of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF).
Now in its 6th edition and the 7th expected to hold in Baku Azerbaijan 6-9 November 2012,the IGF is meant to provide a forum for better understanding of the Internet governance ecosystem among all stakeholders irrespective of their constituencies.
He added that at the United Nations Commission on Science and Technology for Development Working Group on the Improvement to the Internet Governance Forum, it was admitted that the true and enduring approach to Internet governance is through multi-stakeholder participation with a focus on building consensus around core issues.
Speaking further on the danger of the unguided control, Olufuye noted that the internet has an history of a system that continues to evolve through the participation of many stakeholders in the user community, the business community, the civil society, the technical and academic communities and of course governments.
And as such he said that “all stakeholders have something to offer and their views matter greatly for an effective rule of law in the online world” stating that a case in point was the stalling of the "Stop Online Piracy Act" (SOPA) and "Protect Intelletual Property Act" (PIPA)
bills in the US Congress due to the failure of sponsors to carry key stakeholders along. He added that “the ideas behind the bills are good but the processes of articulating the bills were not inclusive. As mentioned earlier, the rule of law has to do with legal principles governing the conduct of all citizens and the disposal of justice in the real (offline) or the virtual (online) world”.
He recalled that recently the Council of Europe (CoE) and the International Chambers of Commerce (ICC) in separate proclamations declared that the offline laws and rule apply to situations and circumstances in the online world.
He explained that offline laws that apply to the internet are the crime of credit/debit card theft, identity theft, fraud, misuse
of bank accounts and obscene posting.
Olufuye called for multi-stakeholder co-operation and collaboration as a sine qua non for the rule of law to prevail on the internet adding that with regard to dealing with cybercrime, there is the Budapest Convention, which is the first treaty on Cybercrime.
He also said that the African Union Commission, the regional Economic Commissions like ECOWAS, the Interpol protocol should be expanded to cover online
stressing that the scope of expansion should only be carried out by incorporating other stakeholders like the business community.
The reason according is that business gathers a lot of personal data of clients, which based on privacy policies, are expected to be protected and not divulged to any third party.
“But for law enforcement purposes where such data are required from business, even on an on-going basis there should be internationally accepted legal protocol guiding such request by law enforcement authorities so as to promote the rule of law, trust and confidence on the use of the Internet”, he said.
He noted that Africa must be carried along in efforts to control the internet since the rapid development of Africa is hinged on the on-going evolution and innovation on the internet engendered by free flow of information.
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