A presentation at W3C TPAC in in Dublin, Ireland by Hidde de Vries
Furthering Human Rights at W3C Hidde de Vries, Dan Appelquist
2 Agenda ● Position Paper ● New Community Group ● Your thoughts
Position paper 3
4 2024 Hiroshima AC Mitsuo Ochi, the president of Hiroshima University, challenged W3C to “take proactive actions towards realizing a peaceful future.” Tim Engelhardt from the UN Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights challenged W3C to put people and their rights at the center of processes: “standard setting organizations and their participants, should commit to the application of human rights, using human rights methodologies” (Tim also specifically referenced the w3c code of conduct as a good example of how to encourage a diverse set of stakeholders - also related to human rights.)
5 October 2025
6 October 2025 ● Mentions W3C’s Ethical Web Principles and Code of Conduct as key enablers ● Explains many regulatory and policy initiatives are founded in human rights
7 A lot of digital regulation is founded in on human rights
88 Existing standards ↔ human rights W3C ● Accessibility (WCAG) ● Sustainability (SWING) ● ● Privacy (Privacy Principles, Privacy WG) Societal Impact Questionnaire Other SDOs ● IETF’s Human Rights Protocol Considerations Research Group ● INSTAR’s Human Rights Task Force ● IEEE’s page on Human Rights ● ITU-T TSAG’s TSB activities about Human Rights and Standards
99 w3.org/TR/furthering-human-rights
10 Specific human rights mappings Article 3 “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and the security of person” security, identity
11 Specific human rights mappings Article 12 “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence…” privacy (see also: Privacy Principles, Privacy WG)
12 Specific human rights mappings Article 19 “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression…” privacy, “one web” principle, accessibility of authoring, HTML, HTTP, ActivityPub
13 Specific human rights mappings Article 20 “Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association” privacy (as surveillance can have chilling effect)
14 Proposed actions ● Periodic and transparent reporting on human rights in W3C Standards ● Human Rights / Societal Impact Review Process ● Program to Increase Diversity of Participation (and Inclusion) in W3C ● Participation Program for Civil Society Groups ● Threats and Harms Community Group
Community Group 15
How to make this a success? 16
