Re: [hrpc] HRPC recharter

[Mallory Knodel <[e-mail]>]

Hi,

On 1/4/23 2:31 PM, Melinda Shore wrote:
> "
>    * To increase the awareness in both the human rights community and
>      the technical community on the importance of the technical workings
>      of the Internet and its impact on human rights.
> "
> (https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/charter-irtf-hrpc/)
>
> So I think part of the issue with this discussion is lack of agreement
> on who the "audience" is, and whether "audience" is the right thing to
> be thinking about at all.  I think it's difficult to balance a research
> focus with the sort of advocacy activities being argued here, especially
> in the absence of broad consensus about policy questions, difficult
> tradeoffs, etc., but maybe one of the things that can come out of this
> rechartering discussion is a better sense of how folks want to balance
> these somewhat incompatible interests. 

I just wanted to comment that while the re-charter is broadening the 
scope from

human rights -> human rights and policy

The re-charter text does *not* further broaden the scope of our 
activities beyond research into advocacy.

Perhaps what Melinda is saying is that all along we have had an 
underlying tension between advocacy and research, and if so I would 
admit that as a self-described advocate at an advocacy organisation I am 
much less certain of particular outcomes in the IETF than I am in policy 
spaces. Speaking from my own experience, I do genuinely approach the 
research questions we raise in HRPC with curiosity and am deeply tuned 
into unresolved questions that we can build consensus around-- though as 
most will recall I do not believe the research outcomes of this RG need 
to attain consensus. That is all to say that HRPC does not feel to me 
that it is a vehicle for advocacy, or that it is trying, or trying and 
failing, to balance research with advocacy goals.

If there's a way to reflect that in the charter, I think that we should. 
But I am not sure that this dynamic is really a function of the charter 
language more than it is a reflection on the folks and their expertise 
who have come to the RG.

-Mallory

-- 
Mallory Knodel
CTO, Center for Democracy and Technology
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