Internet and mobile companies operating in politically restrictive or developing markets disclose hardly any information about policies affecting users’ freedom of expression and privacy, leaving users in these regions particularly vulnerable to unknown human rights risks, according to several new studies using the Ranking Digital Rights Corporate Accountability Index methodology.
Researchers who were involved in these studies gathered at RightsCon in Toronto on May 18 to discuss results of their research on companies in Africa, China, the Middle East, and Russia, and to discuss how RDR’s Index methodology can be used to encourage corporate accountability and transparency in developing economies and challenging political environments.
Session participants were among a growing number of researchers and advocacy groups around the world who are adapting the Index methodology to evaluate local and regional internet and telecommunications companies on their disclosed commitments to users’ freedom of expression and privacy.
In 2018, the digital rights group Internet Without Borders published a report analysing the terms of service and privacy policies of Orange in Senegal and Safaricom, a Vodafone subsidiary, in Kenya. Beirut-based digital rights group Social Media Exchange (SMEX) produced a study applying the Index methodology to evaluate 66 mobile operators in the Arab region. The Russian internet freedom NGO RosKomSvoboda used a select number of Index indicators to evaluate the transparency of four network mobile operators in Russia and used technical testing to evaluate how companies implement their policies in relation to content blocking. Researchers with the Hong Kong Transparency Report conducted an analysis of how laws in China help or hinder companies from being more transparent regarding policies and practices measured by Index indicators.
This type of research gives advocacy groups an opportunity to start a conversation around digital rights issues and to engage the private sector, particularly in countries and regions where awareness about the impact ICT businesses have on people’s rights is lacking, according to participants. “Our report has opened up a conversation with companies, and even encouraged changes in some of them,” according to Julie Owono, executive director of Internet Without Borders. “For example, some Orange subsidiaries are now offering training for users on their privacy rights,’’ she said.
‘’Transparency isn’t a part of Russian business culture,’’ Sarkis Darbinyan, one of the co-authors of the RosKomSvoboda report, said. Although it has been challenging for them to directly engage with these operators, RosKomSvoboda researchers have been able to ‘’engage somewhat’’ with companies by asking them questions at public events, according to Darbinyan.
Research using the Index methodology can also help digital rights groups and activists focus on areas in which companies can be more transparent about their policies even in legally and politically challenging environments. For example, researchers with the Hong Kong Transparency Report found several areas in which the law does not prevent Chinese internet companies from disclosing information about policies affecting users’ rights, particularly in terms of users’ privacy.
‘’Tencent and Baidu scored quite poorly in the 2018 Index, but even under Chinese law, they could significantly improve [their] digital rights disclosures,’’ Ben Zhou of the Hong Kong Transparency Report said. Tencent and Baidu were among 22 internet, mobile, and telecommunications companies evaluated by RDR’s 2018 Corporate Accountability Index on their public commitments and disclosed policies affecting users’ freedom of expression and privacy.
We encourage digital rights groups and researchers to use and adapt the Index methodology to produce local research evaluating the human rights policies and practices of companies and services in their regions.
