Christian Hirte, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, is opening the 3rd annual conference of the Internet & Jurisdiction Policy Network (I&J) today. The I&J is a global multistakeholder network which focuses on the tensions between a cross-border internet and national legal systems.

Christian Hirte said: “I am delighted that Germany and the Economic Affairs Ministry are hosting the Internet & Jurisdiction Annual Conference this year. The issues being discussed here over the next few days are central to the maintaining of a truly global and secure internet. The internet is increasingly driving innovation and societal development. If it is to be able to play its part to the benefit of people around the world, it must be free of censorship, discrimination and propaganda. We are currently seeing how some parts of the world are tending to fence off the internet and give it a more national orientation. We wish to counteract this.”

The I&J’s event, which is being organised in partnership with the Economic Affairs Ministry, is running until 5 June in the gasometer in Berlin-Schöneberg. More than 280 high-level participants from more than 50 countries are expected, including representatives of governments, (the internet) industry, civil society, the technical community, science and international organisations. The aim is to develop joint solutions for cross-border legal issues relating to the internet and the internet industry. These include, for example, rights of prosecution services to access data held in other countries, preconditions for the blocking of domains, rights and duties of intermediaries (e.g. platforms), and information and legal recourse for those affected.

The findings of the annual conference will be taken up and discussed further at the 2019 UN Internet Governance Forum, which will take place in Berlin from 25-29 November.