UNESCO has been concerned with the issue of privacy in the context of the “free flow of information”, which is at the core of UNESCO’s mandate. Previous discussions shared the view that social networking tools have tremendous potential to promote freedom of expression and political and social cohesion. New legal and regulatory instruments for social networking have been developed by various agencies, but due to social networking’s transnational nature, challenges exist in the application of these instruments, with the discrepancy between the legal framework of the online territory and that of national territories.

The workshop will bring different multi-stakeholders around the world, and will take a broader approach to examine the interaction between privacy protection, freedom of expression and security. The sub-themes include:


The workshop will take place in Room 8, Lithuanian Exhibition Centre LITEXPO, Vilnius, 4.30-6.30p.m., 15 September 2010. Mr Jānis Kārkliņš, UNESCO’s Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information will chair the meeting. The speakers include:


The workshop welcomes remote participation through access to the IGF website.

The programme and agenda of this workshop are available on the IGF website.