The Council of Europe works with its 47 member states, the private sector, civil society and other actors to shape an Internet based on human rights, pluralist democracy and the rule of law.
Its ultimate aim is to ensure that the Internet provides a safe and open environment where freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, diversity, culture, education and knowledge can flourish.
The Council of Europe does this through its conventions in fields such as cybercrime, data protection and the protection of children, via the development of recommendations to its member states and of guidelines for private sector Internet actors.
The Organisation has committed to ten Internet governance principles and has called on its member states to uphold them when developing Internet related public policies. It has also encouraged other stakeholders to embrace them in the exercise of their own responsabilities.
The Council of Europe also promotes and supports the global Internet Governance Forum (IGF) the European Dialogue on Internet Governance (EuroDIG), and is an observer to the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).
Internet Governance Forum - 7th meeting