Derechos Digitales with the Center for Studies on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information (Argentina), Karisma Foundation (Colombia), the Association for Progressive Communications, the Center for Technology and Society of the Getulio Vargas Foundation (Brazil) and the Association for Civil Rights (Argentina) will participate in a thematic hearing on the impact of the Internet in the defense and exercise of human rights before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). The hearing will take place in Washington, DC, during the 153th Period of Sessions, this October 28th, 2014.

During the hearing, the organizations will address the impact of the Internet on the exercise of rights to access to education and culture, privacy, equality and non-discrimination, and freedom of expression. The hearing will also address the current state of Internet access in the region. “It is imperative that the Commission serves as an actor in the debate with the goal of strengthening the treatment of these issues from a human rights perspective. The incorporation of the issue in the IACHR agenda will enormously enrich the open debate on Internet regulation,” stated the organizations.

The IACHR convokes hearings twice a year. The objective of this type of thematic hearing – solicited by individuals or organizations – is to update the Commission on a particular issue and bring the debate to the agendas of the States and entities of the Inter-American System.