I was alerted to the Global Conference of Cyberspace by one of my fellow African School on Internet Governance (AfriSIG) alumni. In fact, I hoped to attend the civil-society-oriented pre-event, where I could have represented my organisation. However, my application for that failed, and instead I was invited only to the government-centred main event, seemingly as an observer, and on the basis of my blogs about internet governance.
Bulletproof-vest security
“#GCCS2015”, as it was dubbed, was held in The Hague, in the International Zone which contains so many world institutions. Because cabinet ministers from many countries were there, security was extremely high. Even the ticket inspector on the tram was wearing a bulletproof vest!
Officially, the event had three themes: Freedom, Security and Growth. However, most delegates seemed to be Northern men in suits & ties, whose interest was mostly Security. Likewise, institutions such as NATO and Interpol had the same delegate status as national government representatives. Indeed, there were stories of delegates’ hotel rooms being searched, seemingly randomly.
Fittingly, GCCS’s main outcome was the founding of a cyber-security collaboration body, the Global Forum for Cyber-Expertise (GFCE). However, the all-too-familiar façade of camaraderie was brittle. Not only was the “elephant in the room” of routine mass surveillance ritually ignored, but formal statements read out by ministers from repressive regimes were politely applauded. Given that China had only days previously deployed its new “Great Cannon”, the Chinese government’s words about constitutional protections rang hollow.
Saluting those imprisoned for online expression
Cracks were visible in the meticulously choreographed spectacle. Most memorably, our own Nnenna, in the most forceful presentation in the opening session, saluted Barrett Brown, amongst others imprisoned for online expression. At a more mundane level, for those who followed via Twitter, APC’s Anriette Esterhuysen was among those sniping at organisers for excessive deference to authority, as in keeping some delegates out of venues so that seats could be reserved for government delegates who failed to attend.
In summary, GCCS may have been a useful networking event for civil society, but that aspect of it ultimately began to seem like a fig-leaf ornamenting the real structures of power.
Michael Graaf is a lifelong activist in anti-apartheid, antimilitarist, green, and information liberation fields. His education background is some science, some humanities, some media studies, and some IT.
Follow him on Twitter: @michaelgraaf