Lessons learned from counter-terrorism-related abuses in the past unequivocally show the importance of proportionate approaches and meaningful engagement with civil society prior to any use of technology in combating terrorism. With emerging technology thrown into the mix, the risk is exacerbated by a common “move fast, break things” approach as the race for innovation often disregards the impact on human rights. More scrutiny and better safeguards begin with better understanding the limits of the technologies themselves and, through evidence-based research, assessing whether they are indeed fit for purpose and can prevent terrorism in practice. To be proportionate, tech-based responses to terrorism must be based on a full risk assessment of their impact on human rights and civic space, and deployed in a way that mitigates the identified risks. This begins – and ends – with meaningfully engaging various sectors, including relevant national authorities, companies, civil society, and academia. Historically marginalised and vulnerable groups must have a seat at the table, because they often are the most immediately and/or severely impacted.
During the 'Unpacking the tech-security drives; protecting civic space' workshop, we will be delving into this topic, with civil society organisations and experts from across the globe.
This workshop will be held on June 26-29 in Haarlem, The Netherlands.