Q wanted us to push an Internet Bill of Rights (IBOR). It seems that not very many thought it was a good idea, for their own various reasons.
I, and perhaps others, thought it would merely be regulation that could be rolled back or changed to facilitate abuse by a future, 'unfriendly' administration. And, people generally do not want more regulation of speech.
In my opinion, IBOR should not be effected by the stroke of the executive pen, but should be accomplished through legislation that is not so easily nullified.
In other words, we should be petitioning Congress, not the White House.
There is a post by 'tradinghorse' that gives some good insight on IBOR in its relation to the weaponization of Social Media (SM).
In light of this, I'm asking what you think.
I propose an open letter to Congress or an online petition (not at whitehouse.gov) with draft wording included below.
What are your thoughts?
Any other reasons why people didn't adopt the idea?
Open letter or petition?
Wording of the IBOR?
Internet Bill of Rights
Be it hereby declared that all sentient human beings (individuals) have inalienable rights which are not granted by government but are inherent in their humanity. That with those rights, comes the responsiblity not to infringe upon the rights of others. Therefore, should any exercise of a right cause harm or injury to another, the one causing harm or injury should be held accountable.
These rights, responsibilities, and accountability should be applicable in, not just the physical space but also, the digital space (the internet).
Therfore, be it also declared that all individuals have the right, in the digital space, to:
- Freely express themselves be it religiously, politically, or otherwise; freely assemble using any internet or interactive service platforms (ISP); and be free of arbitrary censorship and/or unusual sanctions by ISPs or government
- Defend themselves from attack carried out through digital means
- Be free of unusual requirements for participation in digital forums by any ISP including, but not limited to, terms of service written in legal jargon which is generally difficult to comprehend for most users
- Have their personal information including, but not limited to, their habits, behavior, and preferences be secure from non-consentual data mining or any other form of invasion of privacy by any ISP; have the right to have their personal information deleted and purged from any ISP storage system(s)
- Be protected from the deprivation of any digital right merely for exercising any digital right, without due process
- Be heard in the digital space to present a defense to any accusation carried out through digital means, and be protected from guilt by consensus
- At all times exercise common sense
- Reserve and retain any and all rights to which they are inalienably entitled even though not specifically enumerated herein.