On June 25, within the framework of the “Digital Agenda” initiative, an online discussion was held, aiming to introduce to the stakeholders the package of legislative proposals promoting the freedom of the Internet and digital rights in the Republic of Armenia.
The event was organized within the framework of the “Internet Freedom and Rights Protection Program”, which is part of the program implemented by Counterpart International and is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Movses Hakobyan, Director of the Grandlex Law Firm and Program Manager, delivered a welcoming speech at the event, introducing to the participants the main goals of the program and the member organizations that joined the initiative. In particular, he noted that the program was launched in May 2020 and in this short period of time managed to form a coalition of supporters, which consists of six organizations.
During the same period, David Sandukhchyan, lawyer and the expert of the initiative, developed an agenda of priorities for digital rights, on the basis of which three draft legislative acts were developed. The projects are related to the neutrality of the Internet, the Institute of Personal Data Protection and the definition of liability of legal entities in case of violation of personal data (proposals are available here: Digitalagenda.am).
Sandukhchyan comprehensively presented to the participants the drafts of the legislative acts and the vision of the initiative, noting that the agenda of the priorities for digital rights was developed taking into account the European Digital Rights Agenda.
During the question and answer session, the participants had the opportunity to voice their remarks and questions about the drafts, receiving the exhaustive explanations of the experts.
The organizers of the event informed that the proposals voiced during the given discussion would be taken into consideration and expressed hope that the results of this initiative would have a positive impact on the beneficiaries – any citizen who uses the Internet or shares personal data on the Internet.
The next step of the initiative is to submit the package of proposals to the legislative body of Armenia.
The full discussion in Armenian is available at this link.