'BRICS should frame own internet governance model'

The current model, allegedly, is largely US-dominated and only serves the interests of a handful US technology companies

The Just Net Coalition, an association of global civil society agencies, has urged the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) to frame an alternative model of internet governance. The current model, it alleges, is largely US-dominated and only serves the interests of a handful of US technology companies. This coincides with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement at the ongoing BRICS Summit on Wednesday, where he asked member countries to take a lead in preserving the internet "as a global common good". Modi termed cyber security as a "major concern".

The campaign for building a democratic global internet structure has gained ground after revelations by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden about large-scale snooping by the US government. Snowden had alleged that the US spied on governments and politicians through backdoor entry into the networks of popular technology firms such as Google and Microsoft, among others. His latest revelations allege that the US also snooped on the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The Just Net Coalition represents most internet think tanks in the country and its secretariat is currently based in India. The organisation was founded in February this year and the plan is to rotate its headquarters region-wise. "The BRICS summit signifies economic rebalancing in the world. There is a need for re-balancing of internet as well," said Parminder Jeet Singh, executive director of IT for Change, which is part of the coalition and is currently housing the secretariat.

In a statement, the coalition said the US-led model of internet governance which developed in the unipolar world in the 1990s, resulted in mass surveillance, violation of people's rights, and an enormous concentration of economic power in the hands of a few US-based global corporations. As a group of countries, the BRICS represents 40 per cent of the world's population and 30 per cent of the world's gross domestic product in purchasing power parity terms.

"Snowden's revelations have demonstrated the need for secure email, calendaring, messaging, search, file-sharing and storage and video systems, which would protect BRICS' economic and cultural spaces, as well as leaders and citizens from Five Eyes spying," the statement said. Five Eyes is a term used to signify the alliance of five major countries that share intelligence - the UK, the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

"Vulnerability to mass surveillance is due to 96 per cent of those with internet access using tools and platforms developed by US companies such as Google, Facebook, PayPal, Amazon, Twitter, Yahoo and Microsoft that are subject to US law," the statement argued. While the US citizens may have some protection under the 4th Amendment, non-US citizens have none under existing US laws, it added.